I Am A Soldier
by Mizu Iruka
Summary: AU. If A:tLA were not a kids show: War is real. People die. Katara has fought in the war for three years. Now, she and her fellow soldiers are given a new mission. Find the Avatar, change the outcome of the war. Zutara. Warning: war violence
1. Chapter 1

**I am a soldier, convinced that I am acting on behalf of soldiers.**  
**Siegfried Sassoon**

* * *

My palms were sweating slightly. A quick look to my left, and I saw Sokka bowed over in his familiar pre-battle stance.

A deep breath. Two.

A shout and a scream of rage rent the air, and we were in battle. I rushed forward, water in my right hand, spear in my left. I added my war cry to the others. As I darted through the trees, glimpses of blue and green told me that I wasn't alone. My first adversary came upon me, and I jumped, using my momentum to carry me into a powerful flying side kick. The man didn't anticipate it, and I hit him in the neck. I heard it snap and after landing kept running.

"Rahhh!"

Sokka's cry wasn't his normal intimidation call or his cry of victory, and I was forced to turn.

"Tui!" I shouted.

"La!" I heard the faint response.

I burst through the trees into a clearing. Sokka was taking on two firebenders. One had a wounded leg, run through with Sokka's spear, and I went for him first. His arms unfortunately, were still in use. Fiery pain engulfed my side while I twisted my water around, its sharpness deadly. The throat, underneath the helmet, was always vulnerable. The momentary regret in another kill had to be pushed aside as together Sokka and I attacked the final firebender. I distracted him with waterbending, and Sokka went in for the kill.

"Should we keep going?" My brother turned to me.

"Did you hear the horn?"

"No."

"We keep going. Let's finish this raid together."

A couple more soldiers and one determined firebender, and then the horn sounded.

It as a quick retreat.

"Survivors?" Sokka barked out, just like every time.

"Look for yourself," one of the earthbenders grunted.

"You two made it back. I'm surprised."

"Nice to see you too, Toph," I smiled. "You were with the open team?"

"Yeah." Toph settled down on one of the many boxes scattered throughout the base. "We made a good strike. You guys?"

"From the lack of dead bodies being carried in, I'd say we did well. It's hard to tell on the forested side of the mountain. You guys have it better, you know. Nice, open . . you can see your enemies . . ." I grinned at the blind earthbender, knowing she could hear it in my voice.

"You can keep whining, Sugar Queen, but you've gotta deal with it."

"Katara, fix up that burn. Then, could you heal me?"

"I got it." Before I had begun fighting, I had been a mediocre healer at best. Practice made perfect.

"Briefing right now," Haru said as he passed by. "You guys better hurry."

"Ugh, as long as Jet doesn't start one of his 'revenge' speeches." Sokka stretched. "That made a one hour meeting into a three hour one."

"You're one to talk, with that day you started having a hissy fit about no meat rations being left," Toph commented with her sly grin.

"I don't have hissy fits," Sokka returned indignantly.

"Oh, sure. Remember when you lost your boomerang?" I smirked.

"This conversation needs to end." Sokka stalked off to the meeting tent, the rest of us following, laughing.

We all fell silent as soon as we entered the tent. It was time for the summary.

My father, the Chief, stood at the front, hands behind his back. "We have lost brave soldiers today. All of you, remember the fallen today, Pipsqueak and Bato." The gasps around the room were almost customary at the post-raids, but they still bit deep. I had seen my father's throat constrict at Bato's name. They had been as close as brothers. I glanced across the room, where the Duke was crouched, small form stiff. Song was comforting him.

"We must continue the fight. The lookouts will keep watch, and we will anticipate the next Fire Nation raid. We must continue fighting!" My father's voice was strong.

"Earthbenders, report in four hours to the open side of the mountain for more work on barricades. Waterbenders, replenish your supplies, but be careful as you go down to the streams. Everyone else, replace broken weapons and rest as much as possible."

"See you, Toph."

"Be careful as you go down, Katara. There's a bunch of tremors. Probably next raid there'll be some catapults."

"You should let the Chief know," I suggested. I pulled out my waterskins. The three other waterbenders gathered together and we began to maneuver back down the mountain. I passed by several dead bodies, wincing as I did so. I had learned long ago to ignore my feelings when I killed, but afterward there was always a dull pain.

"Did you kill this one?" One of the younger boys looked at me. They were too new at waterbending to get really involved in the fights.

"No. Not this guy, anyway," I murmured.

"Shhh," the only other girl hissed. She had potential as a waterbender, assuming she didn't die.

"You get the latest news?" An unfamiliar voice broke the silence.

All of us dropped to the ground, the underbrush hiding us from the view of the Fire Nation soldiers.

"What's that?"

"it's rumors, mostly. Something about a threat, and maybe the princess will go after it. For some reason Zhao's furious."

"Let's get back. We've got to set up the catapults."

I stared at the other waterbenders and waited for the voices to recede."Let's get our water."

* * *

"You going to bed already?"

I looked over at my tent-mate. "Like you aren't tired."

"I'm invincible. I never get tired," Toph smirked.

"What if I tell you a story?"

"Not the one about Oma and Shu, please. We're so close to Omashu here, I think I've heard it about a million times."

"How about the Avatar?" I asked sleepily.

"You know we're not supposed to talk about him."

I started the story anyway. "My grandmother found him in the ice three years ago. Frozen, caught in time. The last airbender. According to her, he had the blue arrows that marked a master, and he was only twelve. Unfortunately, he only knew air, so he was sent to the Northern Water Tribe in secret, and the other elemental masters journeyed there to train him. The Chief says that only two more years and he'll finally be able to help us with the war."

"Why do you call him the Chief? He's your dad."

It gave me a pause. "It's easier that way."

Toph didn't ask for an explanation, which I was thankful for.

"So what will happen when the Avatar finishes training?"

"Well, assuming we've survived until then, he has amazing power. He will stop the war."

"If you say so."

I turned over. "He has to."

"Katara, how long have you been fighting?"

"I was assigned here when I was fourteen, and I've been fighting ever since."

"You've survived three years?"

"Well, first year and a half was training."

Toph was silent for a moment. "I didn't think anyone lasted that long."

"Tons of them do, Toph. You'll probably outlive us all, with those earthbending skills of yours," I murmured.

"One can hope." With that, the two of us went to sleep.

* * *

It was still dark when the signal was called. The distinctive bird call rang out across the mountainside, and I tumbled out of my sleeping bag.

"Toph."

"I refuse," she said groggily.

In response, I threw a nearby rock at her.

"I'm up!" she groaned.

Fighting through our sleepiness, we managed to get to the gathering before the raid began.

"Everyone to the forested side. Watch out for catapult fire, try and put out fires if you can. Good luck."

It was a good raid for us. I mostly put out fires, while Sokka and Toph did the attacking. Their catapults were weak and ineffective, mostly because they didn't know where to aim with the trees blocking. That didn't stop the occasional flaming hunk of earth from crashing through the trees and scaring us out of our skins, but the death toll was zero.

After the raid we celebrated. We did every time no one died.

"Pass me the meat, Katara."

"I'm telling you, earth is way better than water or fire."

I chose to splash Toph with her drink.

"Not fair."

I laughed, downing my own.

"Who wants to play a game of elements!"

"Not me."

"I do!"

"Katara, Sokka, and Toph."

"What is it?" I turned to see Chief Hakoda standing behind me, arms crossed. "Ah, right. Sorry, sir."

I threw a glance at Sokka and Toph as we walked. They seemed just as confused as I.

Our father directed us to sit while he stood at the front of the meeting tent.

"We have a situation."

"What is it, sir?" Sokka asked.

"Both of you know about the Avatar, and his on-going training. I have just received news that the Fire Nation has discovered his existence, either through a mole or by accident. He has been moved from the Northern Water Tribe, as they are not ready to take a full invasion. We believe that the Fire Nation does not know where he is, only that he is alive."

"What does that have to do with us, sir?" Toph said with her usual bluntness.

"The Avatar has a guard, but needs a guide. In this case, the three of you. You must find him and bring him to the different battlefronts, including this one. In short, help the Avatar end the war. All of you are experienced fighters, and Katara and Toph, you're the best benders we have. Don't let me down."

We were silent. Part of me jumped at the chance to get out of the perpetual cycle of raids, but the other part didn't want to leave. I had fought for so long on the same mountainside, making a difference. I didn't want to throw that away.

Sokka stood. "I am honored to take on this mission. I won't fail you." He bowed.

For a moment, Chief Hakoda's face moulded itself into a father's face. "Sokka, I know you won't."

Toph stood. "Me too. Just hope the earthbenders won't fail without me." It drew a smile from the Chief.

I stood. "We'll do our best." I stared into my father's face, hoping for some sign of affection, even a smile, but nothing came. I saw Sokka watching me, and I controlled my own emotions. "Please make sure the waterbenders in training are ready before they go out to battle."

We left, moving to our tents and gathering up our gear. Without speaking, we all knew that this meant leaving immediately, no goodbyes and no time to waste.

Packs on our shoulders, the three of us stood, staring down the mountain.

"Here goes nothing," Sokka muttered.

"Just another battle," I said with a sigh.

"Stop with the doom and gloom. Let's just do this thing." Toph took the earth we were standing on and made it into a platform, sending us hurtling down the mountain.

* * *

**A/N:** This is my next big fanfic! For anyone confused, the idea here is that the 100-Year-War IS a war. Obviously, Avatar is a kids show, so they couldn't explore this . . . so I am. Critique appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

"Do we even have a guess on this kid's location?"

"I think so, Katara. I mean, we do know that he just left the Northern Water Tribe. In all likelihood, he's headed for the Earth Kingdom. The largeness of it would keep him safe, you know?"

"And also make him impossible to find." Toph's bending was leaving a trail of dust in our wake, but it was the fastest way. She was concentrating, leaving the road clear behind us.

I shifted my handhold on the rock. "We'll just have to wing it."

We travelled for a couple more hours before Toph finally admitted she needed a break. We started jogging, but that quickly dropped to a walk. It had been a while before we had done anything but sprints, and our endurance was lacking.

Night fell, and we kept moving. At midnight we slept for three hours, then kept going. By morning we had reached a town.

"What do you guys think, safe to go through?"

"Can't really tell if it's Fire Nation." Sokka squinted. "Could be though. A lot of towns are secretly under Fire Nation control, and they hide in order to draw in our troops and then ambush them."

I looked at our clothes. Sokka and I were in traditional Water Tribe armor, and Toph was wearing distinctive Earth Kingdom attire.

"We need new clothes."

"Uh uh."

"No way."

I persisted. "We go in stealthily, if it's Fire Nation, find some Fire Nation clothes and change. That way we can blend and ask about the Avatar."

"Fine, let's go."

As it turned out, it was a Fire Nation town. We had barely passed the outskirts before a couple of soldiers came down the road. Thanks to Toph, we had already hidden in the trees off the road, but it was a close call nonetheless.

"Fine, we change," Sokka muttered. We snuck closer, finding a house with clothes drying in the backyard. I almost felt bad, but then remembered that it was a Fire Nation town.

We changed into the awful red, the civilian clothes making me uncomfortable as soon as I had put them on. My midriff was bare, leaving me vulnerable to attacks in that area.

"Katara, you have to look more Fire Nation," Sokka commented.

"What do you mean?" I scoffed. "I've got the red clothes on, isn't that good enough?"

Sokka waved a vague hand towards me. "You know, change your hairstyle and stuff."

I scowled at him, but complied. I turned to Toph and helped her put her hair up. "Not doing this again, Toph, so enjoy it."

"Haha, like I'd ever enjoy getting dressed up."

I smirked. "That challenge will be accepted once this war's over."

Toph's returning smile was bitter. "If."

I chose not to reply.

We walked through the middle of town awkwardly, trying to blend in. Of course, with Sokka and I having dark skin and blue eyes, and Toph being blind, that was impossible.

"What are you kids doing, huh?"

I bristled at being called a kid, but managed to put on my sickly-sweet smile. "We're just traveling through! What's the news around here?"

The soldier looked suspicious. "Why do you want to know?"

Toph put on her blind helpless kid act. "Because, we've lost my seeing-eye rabbit-collie. If something happened to him . . ."

"Huh, haven't seen any rabbit-collies. Though he could've been caught in the crossfire a day ago."

"Crossfire? You don't mean there's fighting here?" Toph's voice went shrill, and I hid a smile.

"Of a sort. Kid came through here, airbender, I think. Come to think of it, aren't they all dead?"

"It'd be pretty ridiculous if we thought we managed to get every one of them," I quickly interjected, "But did you see where he went? I mean, maybe her rabbit-collie followed him. I've heard the airbender nomads loved animals." It was a stretch, and in response Sokka elbowed me in the side surreptitiously.

"He headed that way," the soldier pointed vaguely southwest. "I think."

"Thank you so much." We hurried away.

Sokka looked amazed. "We're that close to him?"

"Fate's a funny thing . . ." Toph murmured in a sing-song voice.

"Let's get moving," I commanded.

"Nice necklace."

I froze. The female Fire Nation soldier had her hands raised in flaming fists. My own hand slowly rose to my mother's necklace. There was only an instant of hesitation before Toph sprang into action. The earth swallowed the soldier whole, except for her head. All too quickly, we were surrounded by firebenders.

"No magic!" Sokka suddenly shouted, just as I was about to uncork my water skins. I stared at him, but that second cost me, and we were shoved to the ground. Kicking and screaming, I managed to ward off one soldier from tying me up, but the next shot a blast of fire next to my head. I managed to roll and dodge, but the sight of a boot coming towards my head preceded the darkness.

* * *

I awoke to the sound of Toph banging on something, making my throbbing head pound even more. I managed to groan, and thankfully the banging stopped.

"Sugar Queen's awake. Thanks for getting us into this one, Katara."

"No problem," I grunted, sitting up. A sudden dizziness pushed itself through my senses, forcing me to lean over. "Where are we?"

"Some prison thing. Sokka's somewhere else, probably because he's a boy."

"Right." I stood, feeling wobbly but able to focus on my surroundings. "This is just great."

"That's what I've been thinking."

"Well, as far as bending goes . . ."

"Nope. No earth as far as I can feel, and no water."

I reached up and felt blood trickling down my face. "And I'm bleeding. Could this day get any better?"

"How are you two girls doing?" Toph and I both flinched back as a firebender came into view, crackling flames held near the bars.

"What do you want?" I said, trying to put some defiance into my voice.

"I'm just hear to watch the fun," the man said.

"What fun?" Toph asked, her voice higher than usual. I suddenly remembered that she was only fourteen.

The sounds of marching came to my attention, and a line of soldiers came into view.

"So, which one first?"

I gave Toph a swift glance. If I admitted that I didn't want her tortured, she would be. "Torture her, just don't torture me!" I put some pleading into my voice. Toph didn't know I was lying, I realized. She didn't have earth. It made me feel ten times more terrible. Her blind eyes were open wide with shock, and she actually trembled. Sneaking a hand out, I gave her shoulder a squeeze.

"Take the dark one. The other one's young anyway."

I almost smiled but didn't. Toph's shrieks as I was dragged away were silenced by a large thud, and I winced.

"All right, what have we here?" The man was small, glasses making him look almost comical.

"Not sure. Looks like some Water Tribe scum."

"A koala-sheep in wolf-bat's clothing, eh?" he commented, gesturing to my outfit. I snarled at him, but he appeared unfazed. "Well, let's get started."

I learned from an early age that I had a high pain thresh hold. Of course, I had never been tortured before. Though I was pretty sure I didn't let anything slip about our mission, I did remember that I screamed Sokka's name. After too long, I was thrown back into the cell.

"What happened, are you hurt?"

I coughed. "Yeah, a bit."

Toph had a large bruise on her forehead. She looked upset. "I tried getting out, without you."

"Did you . . ." I realized what I was saying and laughed. "Well, you wouldn't be here if you did, huh?"

"I came back. I couldn't leave you behind."

She seemed guilty. I pushed myself over to her and smiled, lifting her hand so she could see. Unfortunately, she was able to feel the blood.

"You're hurt bad," she whispered.

"If you get us out of here I can heal," I whispered back.

"Let's go now." Toph stood and moved over to the bars. As I watched, she took hold of them and began slowly bending them.

"How . . .?" I gasped.

"There's earth in metal, I think." Toph looked exhausted. "Hurry up."

We managed to sneak through most of the corridors. After an eternity of getting lost and wrong turns, we found Sokka.

"Hey, Snoozles, miss us?" Toph bent his bars as well.

"We've got to get out, quickly." Sokka looked as if his torturing session had gone as well as mine.

We slipped through the building, bare feet making little noise, even on the stone floor.

"Stop!"

Sokka whipped around and took out the man with a swift kick to the head. "Keep going!"

We burst out into the street, citizens shrieking and running away as soon as we came into view. I gestured to the other two frantically.

"This way, hurry!" We managed to shove our way through the underbrush in the woods.

* * *

Sokka sighed in relief as I began his healing. I put more effort into it than I normally did, since I didn't really want my brother to look like a knife-sharpener.

"Katara, that's good enough, heal yourself now."

"Not yet." I finished him. "Why did you stop me from using waterbending?"

"I was hoping it would help you escape, especially if they didn't know you could."

"Mmm. Okay. Well, next time maybe that is not the best plan."

I turned to Toph and healed the bruise on her forehead.

"Thanks, Sweetness."

"No problem." I began working on myself. "So, what's the plan?"

"I guess we head in the direction that man pointed. Could be he was lying, but we don't really have a better lead."

"Let's go."

Sokka looked at me in amazement. "You're ridiculous! You haven't even finished healing yourself, look, you're still bleeding."

I gave him a look. "I said, let's go."

Sokka shrugged. "Your funeral."

* * *

**A/N:** Hey guys! Don't care for this chapter especially, some better ones to come, I think. Hope to be updating this fairly regularly . . . we'll see. Anyway, this will be the last one until I return from a funeral. Oh, and Happy Fourth to all Americans!


	3. Chapter 3

In three days we found the Avatar. We also found the hardest battle of our life.

"Sokka, take the knife girl!" I shouted.

"You get the pink one!"

"I'll help the Avatar!" Toph shouted at us, even as she began sliding on an avalanche towards the pair fighting.

I turned to a girl dressed entirely in pink. She smiled at me. In return I gave her my full warrior glare.

"What kind of soldier are you?" I snarled at her.

Her smile widened. "I'm not a soldier, I'm an acrobat!"

With amazing speed she closed in on me, hands darting out to hit pressure points. I fell back, one arm useless. I growled, managing to use my other to bend a whip of water to knock her down. The next one I sent was as sharp as a knife, but she managed to roll and twist out of the way.

"That all you got, Water Tribe peasant!" she taunted.

"I'm only getting warmed up, circus freak," I hissed. With the only hand and leg combination that I knew, I managed to kick out a wave of water and keep it directed at the same time. It became a chasing game as I kept the water following her and she kept avoiding it.

"Ha, are you supposed to be a warrior?"

While I directed the water with my feet, I reached to the waistline of my pants. I snapped the knife out into a quick throw, catching the girl across the cheek.

"I am a soldier." I began making the attacks from my water more and more intense until I finally caught her, covering her with the water. She was flailing, trying to get free of the death surrounding her. I began freezing the water, starting with her legs. I just reached her neck when a stray blast of fire threw me back.

"Azula, help me!" The water had fallen away from the girl's face. I turned in shock to the firebender. Azula was the name of the Fire Nation princess.

Azula ignored the girl's plea. I turned to finish her off, but a shriek from Toph stopped me. A quick glance as I ran to her showed me that my brother and the knife girl were equally matched. Thankfully my other arm had some feeling again, and I began sending spinning ice disks towards the princess. In return she sent a huge blast of fire towards me. Just as I managed to dodge it I heard another cry of pain, this time Sokka's.

"Get down!"

Before I had time to think, the Avatar had sent a huge blast of air in all directions. I had dropped soon enough, so it only sent me skidding across the ground, but the firebender went flying. I managed to look up and saw the Avatar hovering, tattoos glowing. The air continued to whirl until we were encased in a dome of air while the others, including Sokka, were trapped outside of it. Pushing myself to my feet, I managed to reach the outskirts before being sent flying back again.

"Sokka!" I screamed, but the wind took away my voice, leaving me helpless. I turned, panicking, to the Avatar. He was above the ground, higher than I stood, still glowing. I grabbed him by the foot, violently pulling him down. "Stop!" The wind stopped, and I ran to my brother. The three girls were gone, and Sokka wasn't moving.

"Don't you dare die on me," I hissed at him. Frantically, I felt for his pulse. It came through strong. With a sigh, I stood up, returning to the Avatar and Toph. The Avatar looked up from his prone position.

"Sorry about that."

"It's fine," I said tersely. I concentrated on Toph, her fetal position not boding well. "Toph?"

"It's nothing."

"Don't be stupid."

It was bad. Her stomach was bruised, burned, and somehow lacerated. The Avatar stood by me, twitching nervously.

"I think it's my fault. I tried to send an earthbending attack at the firebender and knocked down Toph's defenses by accident." The Avatar looked at me as if he expected me to snap at him. I ignored him and turned to my healing, using the water to clean out the wounds as I went.

"What caused the open wounding?" I asked.

Toph managed to cough out an answer. "My destroyed shield. Rocks are kind of hard, you know."

I barely smiled, keeping my gaze on Toph's stomach. Once my healing was done I helped her up.

"We better get moving. Avatar, try and wake up Sokka."

"My name's Aang."

I blinked. "Right." He flew over to Sokka and I concentrated on Toph.

"Stop worrying, Sugar Queen. I've never been better."

"Whatever. We need to get out of here."

Toph closed her eyes. "There's a cave, over that way."

"Come on," I grunted, picking her up.

"Put me down, Katara."

"Nope." I looked over to see the Avatar helping Sokka over. "Let's go, guys."

"You know, I never asked this, but you aren't Fire Nation, right?"

Sokka laughed. "Yeah, Aang. This was just a disguise. We just haven't changed back yet."

"Who are you guys?"

"I'm Sokka."

The Avatar turned to me. "Katara," I replied shortly.

"Toph."

"Get some sleep, soldiers." I finished rolling out my sleeping mat and lay down.

"Soldiers?" the Avatar laughed.

I turned and stared at him. "What do you think you are?"

It gave him a pause. "I'm a monk."

Sokka's laughter was a short bark while Toph's lasted longer.

"This kid's funny. I say we keep him." Toph winced and held her stomach. "Don't make me laugh."

"I wasn't being funny!" He was indignant.

I groaned. "I said, sleep!" I would have to talk with the Avatar later. If he didn't think he was in a war, he was in for a rude awakening.

When I woke up with a gasp, the Avatar stared at me with concern.

"Nightmare?" he guessed.

I nodded and glared. "Don't even think about asking."

He smiled serenely. "I won't."

"How come you're awake?" I gestured to the others who were still fast asleep.

"I'm meditating." He appeared to remember something. "Oh, and if my tattoos start glowing, that means I'm in the Spirit World."

"Good to know," I said faintly.

I sat in the growing light, bending in order to calm myself. The Avatar meditated at the entrance of the cave. Somehow I must have fallen back asleep, because when I started up, the Avatar's tattoos were glowing.

"Spirit World," I muttered aloud. I stood and stretched lazily. "Huh, morning already. Time to get going."

"Actually no." The voice came from the shadows of the cave, and I whirled around. A figure stood there, and I scrambled to take hold of the water around me.

"Tui!" I shouted, trying to wake the others.

"Don't even try. You are weak and tired. I'll just take the Avatar and there won't be any problems."

"Yeah right," I snarled. I glanced in terror at the others, who weren't stirring.

"Knocked them out, sorry." The figure finally stepped into the light from the rising sun. He was obviously a firebender, but had a large burn covering the left side of his face. Maybe it was a childhood accident.

"Who are you?" I whispered, taking a step back. I didn't have enough water to start a full battle in the cave, and I couldn't risk the others being burned.

"Prince Zuko," he smirked.

"Great, some more royalty." I put some spite into my voice and wasn't disappointed.

"Don't compare me to my sister!" he shouted. I tried to see if the Avatar was awake but he was still glowing.

I finally found the handle of my spear behind me. I tightened my grip. The prince took a step forward, past Toph and Sokka, and I acted, throwing my spear directly towards his heart.

He was quick. He managed to dodge it and slam into me before I had a chance to move. I had never felt so vulnerable as he held me down, hands tight around my wrists.

"I have to do this. Don't try to stop me."

"Why do you have to?" I asked, playing for time.

His golden eyes narrowed. "To get my honor back."

It was such an unexpected answer that I only stared at him. It cost me, and his hand was around my throat, choking me. My one hand free, I scrambled to tear away his hand, but he was strong and had gravity on his side. The terrifying thought crashed through my mind that I was going to die, and not honorably in battle like I always thought I would. Darkness began to creep in and my lungs burned in their need for air.

"No honor," I managed to choke out. For a moment, I thought I saw his eyes waver, but then he lifted me up by the throat and threw me back down. Something exploded at the back of my head, and the darkness swallowed me.

* * *

**A/N:** And heeeere comes Zuko. Hang on for the ride, folks


	4. Chapter 4

"Katara, wake up."

Head throbbing, I sat up. "That's the second time this week I've been knocked out," I muttered.

"What happened?" Toph asked.

"You guys were drugged and I was knocked out by Prince Zuko."

"Oh great, now he's after Aang too?" Sokka groaned.

"He's got him, but not for long," I said, standing shakily.

Sokka gave me my spear. "We should change into armor."

"Yeah, everybody change and pack up. Then we move out."

It was a huge relief finally having protection again. Slinging my pack over my shoulder, I herded the others out of the cave. Sokka immediately dropped to the ground, checking for prints.

"This way." We ran through the forest, until we lost the prints in the river. Sokka was frowning. "Split up?" he suggested.

I bit my lip. "If any of us get the jump on him, I think one could take him out single-handedly."

"Enough talking, let's go!" Toph grinned. "To the fight again!"

"Be careful, Toph."

"Yes, mom."

I let her go with that, and we split up. I went upstream, Toph went downstream, and Sokka went straight onwards.

I pushed through the underbrush, the on-coming night giving me strength. Full moon, I realized as I looked up. I started sprinting, keeping my eyes peeled for any broken branches. I started when I found a scrap of orange cloth on a tree branch. It had to have been from the Avatar's clothes.

"He can't have been this careless," I murmured. I followed the trail, footprints and disturbed brush making a clear path. In only a few minutes I came upon the prince and the Avatar. From the looks of it, the latter was still in the Spirit World. Prince Zuko had actually started a campfire.

The power of the full moon always made me feel over-confident, even giddy. I stepped out from my hiding place in the trees.

"I think I found someone's honor," I sang out. The whirl of flames was expected, but I still wasn't quite prepared, and fell back slightly. Half of my water was gone from this attack, and I sighed. With a flick of my wrist, I pulled the water from the surrounding trees and grass. I saw the shock in the firebender's eyes and used his lapse to attack.

I didn't hold back. Starting with slashing slices of water, I then pulled more to make larger attacks.

He fell back. I managed a tight smile. "Don't even try. You're weak and tired, so I'll just take the Avatar back, thank you very much."

"Don't mock me." he growled, returning with rapid punches of fire.

"Oh, I wouldn't dare mock a prince." I caught each of the blasts with a shield of water, steam rising and covering the two of us. I smirked. This had happened before, in a drawn-out fight with a firebending soldier. I augmented the steam, the cover blinding us. I felt through it, and found the prince. In a quick rush, I began covering him with water. He was fighting, I felt it, but continued. Finally I had him completely, and I cleared the steam.

"It's Zuko, right?" I froze the water, but left his head free. He kept trying to melt it but I stopped him, the moon's power completely filling me.

"Prince Zuko to you, peasant." Out of nowhere he breathed fire, and I stepped back.

"I'm a soldier. Not a peasant." I picked the Avatar up and slung him over my shoulder. "Why are you trying to capture the Avatar?"

"If I beat Azula, then . . ." The prince shook his head, eyes going hard.

"Why didn't you kill me?"

He closed his mouth in a silent refusal to answer.

"A life for a life. I'm not going to kill you." I ran, leaving the prince behind.

His roar of anger took me by surprise, but I kept running. Thankfully the Avatar wasn't heavy, but it was rough going through the forest. As I ran, I sent my own rough version of our bird call out and began signaling for the others.

"Katara!" Sokka burst through the underbrush. "You got him!"

I smiled. "Of course."

"Now that we're all here, let's get moving," Toph advised as she came into sight.

"Wha-what's going on?"

The Avatar chose to wake up at that moment, and I dumped him on the ground unceremoniously.

"Nice of you to join us," I said sarcastically.

"While you were out, you were kidnapped by Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, and Katara rescued you. So say thank you."

"Uh, thanks." The Avatar rubbed his bald head awkwardly. "Sorry about that. But I was meeting Roku, and . . ."

"That can wait. Let's get out of here."

"I'll get Appa!"

The three of us stared at him. "Have you lost it?" Toph asked incredulously.

The Avatar pulled out a whistle. He blew on it, and no sound came out.

"Yup, he's lost it." Sokka shifted his pack. "If he collapses, I'm not carrying him."

A loud groan came from the sky, and I gasped as something blotted out the moon.

"Say hello to Appa." Crashing through the trees, the huge creature landed.

"That was frightening," Toph muttered quietly.

"I'll say," I whispered.

"He's an Air Bison. The last one." The Avatar had hugged the beast and climbed on its head. "Get on the saddle."

"Now I've lost it," Sokka said. We climbed on, and the bison flew. Toph was screaming, and I was shrieking but grinning at the same time.

"Where are we headed?" the Avatar called out.

"Nearest battlefront is east of us," Sokka shouted.

* * *

**A/N:** Hello again!

raidersfan777: You have commented on every chapter. May I give you an internet hug? :)

Faeoflight: Thank you for the long review, and taking the time to write it! The critique is welcomed!

Hope you guys enjoy it! I'll continue to update on a hopefully regular basis.


	5. Chapter 5

"Gear up, everybody."

Sokka was conversing with General Fong, who was in charge of the post. I looked at Toph, who was putting on the last of her metal armor, and then turned to the Avatar.

"You going in with just those clothes, Avatar?" I asked incredulously.

"It's Aang, and yes. Armor's too much trouble."

"And it will keep you from getting killed," I pointed out drily.

"Avatar Aang, I have a proposition for you." General Fong approached us. "If you go into the Avatar state during this attack, it will be much more likely that we will win the skirmish."

The Avatar looked uncomfortable. "I'm not very good at it, and if I lose control, I could hurt a lot of our people too."

"People are already dying, Avatar. You have to do something," the General insisted.

"I'll try."

At that moment the horns sounded the beginning of the battle. The Avatar turned to me, his young face desperate.

"Katara, I have to meditate to go into the Avatar state. If I don't want to ruin our own base, that means-"

"-you have to meditate on the battlefield," I finished. "I've got your back. Toph! Get over here and help! We have to get the Avatar into the field and then cover him."

"Got it!"

I finished pulling my gloves on and grabbed my waterskins. "Stick close, Avatar. No air antics until we get you out there."

He only nodded. We raced out from the forest onto the flowering field that was already trampled and dusty. Flashes of fire and the rumble of earthbending showed the beginnings of the fight, and Toph and I guided the Avatar right into the middle of it. We practically danced around him, Toph mostly putting up walls while I lashed out at anyone that came close.

"Now, Aang!" Toph shouted. She put up four walls around him, and we stayed outside of it, fighting. Thankfully firebenders were absent in our area, but several soldiers rushed me at once, forcing me push out in random waves, unable to do any real damage.

"Is he in the Avatar state?" Toph yelled to me. I gestured for her to lower a wall, and I was shocked to find the Avatar sitting on the ground, still trying to meditate, but tears streaming down his face.

"I can't do it!" he cried aloud as he saw me. "I can't. I'm not in control, and there's no immediate danger to trigger-"

"It's fine, Avatar, let's just make a difference in this battle," I growled. Yanking him out of his protection, I pushed him towards the fighting.

"What do I do?" he asked me. I felt like groaning aloud.

"Kill as many Fire Nation as you can," I said, already forced to turn as an incoming firebender. I pulled out my dagger as he approached, warding off his fire with most of my water. He came within arms reach, and I pulled back my arm, ready to kill when a sudden blast of air sent me skidding.

"Don't kill him!" the Avatar yelled.

"What do you think you're doing, you-" I was cut off as I was engulfed in flames, starting at my feet and traveling up my legs. I screamed, and somehow through the inferno heard Toph and the Avatar yelling.

"I've got you, Sugar Queen." Toph's voice was close, and I blearily tried to look through my swarming tears.

"Toph?" I asked thickly. "How'd you get here?"

"You've got a loud scream," she responded.

"The firebender?"

"I got him." I felt a surge of motion, and felt myself slide a little on the rock we were on top of. I realized Toph was taking me away from the battlefie.d

"Warn me next time," I murmured. The pain wasn't sharp anymore, just throbbing and dull, and I wanted to give in to the sleep I felt coming.

"Hey, stay awake!" Toph rudely slapped me, and I yelped. "We're here, you better heal yourself quick, or that's gonna be permanent."

I felt myself being carried and then put in water. The relief was immediate, and automatically I began healing. I chanced a look down at my legs and gasped. The redness and blood was more intense than I had ever had in a burn, and with a gulp I began to work harder. The last thing I wanted was to lose my fighting ability because of my legs.

As I finished healing, I began hearing the sounds of returning troops. I also heard the raging of the General and winced for the Avatar's sake. A second later I dropped the feeling. He was the reason I was hurt in the first place.

"Where is Katara?"

I smiled as Sokka came into view. "Hey big brother."

"Hey little sister." He knelt beside the pond where I was half-submerged. "What happened?"

My smile fell away. "The Avatar stopped me from making a kill and my would-be-kill burned me."

"You're joking." Sokka's expression was stormy. I sighed.

"If you could find him, I need to talk to him. And don't kill him yet."

When the Avatar came, it was with a guilty expression and slumped posture.

"I'm so sorry, Katara."

I waved it aside. "That's not why I wanted to talk with you, Avatar."

"What is it then?"

"Why did you stop me from killing that firebender?"

His face dropped. "Killing is wrong," he finally murmured.

"Yes, so?"

"So I stopped you."

"This is war. You have to kill, otherwise you lose. Do you want to lose this war?" I kept my gaze firm, as much as I wanted to let him go, pathetic as he looked.

"No," he whispered.

"You'll have to come to terms with that soon. You're the Avatar. You have to help us win this war."

"How many people have you killed?"

My temper flared. "That's none of your business!" I snapped. He flinched, and I softened. "I'm not proud of killing. No one should be, okay Avatar? It just has to happen."

"I understand." He turned to leave, and then looked back. "Why don't you call me Aang?"

"I . . . well . . ."

"Is it because you don't like me?"

"No, it's just . . . I don't like letting people get close."

"Why not?"

"Because if I do, it hurts more when I lose them," I murmured.

"If you don't let people get close, then what's the point of fighting?"

I stared at him, and he gave me a strange, small smile as he left.

* * *

**A/N: **This chapter was important for this fanfic for me . . . it really is the basis from which I'm writing this. Because were the Avatar world really in a war, this would be going down. Bryke had to keep that out because it was a kids show, but were it an adult show, I'd like to think this would be a part of it. Also, I wanted to give Katara some development here.

I love the reviews guys . . . for some reason it's really weird to me how people who I haven't even met are reading this . . . i dunno. Maybe that's just me, but it's really encouraging when you guys do! Just as a warning, I'll be able to update until next week, and then I head off on vacation for a couple weeks. So there will be a mini hiatus. But that'll just give me time to catch up on writing!

To address a small comment someone made about the length of the chapters, these lengths are VERY haphazard. In For Freedom, I deliberately wrote chapters . . . this time, not so much.


	6. Chapter 6

We stayed at General Fong's encampment for two more days. Twenty men had been lost in the fight, and he was being so nasty to Aang that it was impossible to stay. Flying off on Appa, we headed for Ba Sing Se.

"How long will it take us to get there?" Toph whined. Appa gave a particularly nasty dip and she yelped, her grip on the saddle and Sokka's arm appearing to grow even tighter, if that was possible.

"Quite a while, Toph." Sokka gently pulled at her hand, making himself more comfortable.

"Are we flying for that whole time?"

"Appa can't fly forever. Actually, we should give him a break now, since the sun's going down," Aang said.

Appa landed with surprising grace, despite his size. His size also came in handy for blocking the wind, and all of us set up camp next to him. We were used to his smell by now. I stripped off my armor, relaxing as the weight of leather and metal left.

After a couple hours, Toph groaned. "Hey guys, I feel someone coming."

Grumbling, we got up from our sleeping mats and prepared for a fight.

"Can you tell who it is?"

"Uh, uh. It's a male though."

Prince Zuko stepped into the light from our campfire. He bowed.

"Do we have to rematch right now? I want to go to sleep," I snarled at him.

"I want to join you."

"You're not going to sleep with me," I deadpanned.

"No! I mean, I just want to help. I've deserted the Fire Nation, and I can teach the Avatar firebending."

Momentarily distracted, I turned to Aang. "You don't know firebending?"

He hung his head. "No."

I turned back to Zuko, who was in the middle of a stare-down with Sokka.

"What's the big change for? A week ago you wanted to capture Aang."

He looked calmly at me. "I want this war to end, and it won't unless the Avatar does something about it."

"Right, and you just _happened_ to change sides all of the sudden."

"I've been stuck in a regiment that is supposed to die for years, just because my father doesn't think I'm worthy of the crown. It didn't take much to change sides. And . . . seeing you changed my mind."

"He's telling the truth." Toph stomped the ground.

"Sokka, what do you think?"

"I don't trust him," my brother growled.

"Please, I want to do some good for once in my life."

I looked at the others, and they looked to me. "I think we should let him, but keep an eye on him. Aang does need to learn firebending somehow."

"I'll take first watch," Sokka snarled. Zuko only bent his head and pulled off his pack, setting up a short distance away from us.

Part of me liked him that far away, but the other part of me saw how the rough winds were catching him, and I sighed.

"Prince Zuko, get over here. It'll be easier to watch you," I called.

"Just Zuko," he murmured.

"Whatever," I said, turning over. I felt the ground under me shift with his movements. He lay down near me, and I stiffened, suddenly feeling exposed without my armor.

To my surprise, I had actually fallen asleep, as I discovered when Sokka woke me up for my watch.

"He hasn't moved," my sibling whispered.

"Okay." The night wore on. I lost feelings of sleepiness as I stared up at Yue and she stared back. I chose to let Toph continue to sleep, knowing that the flying had exhausted her more than any of us.

"You're the moon, but do you know how much we hurt? Do you know when we will die? . . . when will I die?" My nightly mutterings were a routine now, and they mostly calmed me. Yue had been my best friend when I had gone to train at the North Pole. "When will this war end?"

I watched as Yue disappeared, and the sun began to rise.

"Do you always talk to yourself aloud?"

"You're awake?" I hissed, turning to the prince.

"I'm a firebender," he replied, nonplussed. As I watched, he rolled up his mat and began meditating. At least I didn't have to worry about him going into the Spirit World.

The pull of a nearby stream called me, and I itched to go waterbend. Zuko must have felt my fidgeting because he cracked open an eye and gave me a look.

"What is up with you?"

I found a solution. "Can you meditate by the stream?"

"Sure," he agreed, standing. Together we moved away from the camp. I found the stream and immediately drew water to myself, bending it so it enveloped my whole body. My blurred view showed Zuko watching me, expression odd.

"What?" I gave Zuko a look, after removing the water from my face.

"Why would you do that?"

"It feels good. It's my element."

"I like my element, but I'm not about to catch myself on fire," he said snidely.

"Well, water doesn't burn me," I replied. Pulling off my boots, I waded into the water, the depth only reaching my knees. I bent the water smoothly, going through the slow forms I knew as a form of relaxation. Another flash of movement distracted me, and Zuko was taking off his shirt. As I watched he began washing it.

"You don't have a tattoo?" I asked abruptly.

"No, why would I?" Zuko turned a quizzical glance on me.

"Oh, I dunno. Just kind of expected one. All the men in our tribe get one when they become a man."

"Which is when . . . ?"

"In peace, it's when they make their first kill of a wild polar bear-dog. In war . . ." I let my voice trail off.

"That's rather barbaric."

I shrugged.

"So, do you have a tattoo?"

I tensed. "Yes."

"For your first kill?"

"No."

Our eyes were locked for far too long. His eyes then darted to my throat, where I had automatically raised my hand to my mother's necklace.

"Oh, I understand."

"You do?"

"Yes."

"Okay then." I turned back to my bending and heard him stomp away.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?"

The footsteps stopped. "Don't you trust me?"

"No. Why would I?"

He approached again, a slight twist in his smile. "You seem like the type of person who trusts others. Why else would you convince the others to let me join you?" His expression wasn't cruel, but there was something that hurt me in buried within his face.

"I don't trust people."

"Yes, you do. I can see it in your eyes."

I glared. "Fine, I don't _want_ to trust people! Trusting gets you hurt." Aang's words from earlier whispered through my head. He came closer, the small smirk not moving.

"You should trust me, Katara."

"How do you know my name?"

He smiled wider. "I did my research."

For some reason that made me feel uncomfortable, and I turned away.

"You trust me. Otherwise you wouldn't have turned your back on me." His voice was hoarse, whispered in my ear. I could actually feel the heat emanating from his body. I didn't give him the satisfaction of seeing me jump or overreact, so instead I stood still.

"Or maybe I know that my brother would kill you if anything happened to me. And he's close."

"Come on, Katara. Admit it. You trust me." His hand was on my upper arm and he turned me about. Something clenched painfully in the pit of my stomach.

"Fine, I trust you! Let's go," I spit at him, but he only smiled. As we walked back I calmed myself down, trying to laugh at my overreaction to the firebender. For a prince, he was being ridiculous.

* * *

**A/N: **Here, have a teeny bit of Zutara in honor of Zutara week :D

I'm participating, as much as possible, on deviantART! Username is mizuiruka. If you are too, let me know where to find your stuff :) :) :)


	7. Chapter 7

The others were still fast asleep, which I expected. "Up, up, up! Come on, we've got a lot of work to do, let's go!" The groaning and complaining was normal, and I began kicking them to get them up.

"Katara, why didn't you wake me for my shift." Toph stretched, her morning hair as crazy as normal.

"I wasn't tired," I told her. She scrunched up her face at me, and I laughed. "You can make up for it today by helping me do some washing."

"Ew," she muttered under her breath.

"I can help instead," Zuko butted in. I glared at him.

"I don't need your help."

"I can heat up the water."

I was left with no argument, and made up for it with a deeper scowl.

"Get to work training Aang."

It almost felt like a normal day on the battlefront when there wasn't a raid. The activities of repairing broken armor and weapons, sparring, and training were still present, it was just a smaller group. But we had a firebender. Even as I sharpened my dagger and spear, I kept close to Zuko and Aang.

"You've never firebended?"

"Only once, during Sozin's comet." Aang shuddered. "I melted an old lady's igloo. She made me rebuild the whole thing."

"That was probably the worst time for you to firebend. That much raw power and with no discipline was a bad idea."

"I didn't do it on purpose!"

"Right. Well, get into a horse stance. Deeper. Deeper. That's it. Now, here." Zuko lit a small flame on the tip of his finger. "Concentrate on this. Don't do anything to it, just feel it."

I began ignoring them and went around to do my own chores. Sokka's pants needed mending and lunch had to be made.

I was making rice porridge when a voice behind me made me jump.

"Do you do all the work around here?"

Another scowl plastered to my face, I turned to face Zuko. "Why aren't you training with Aang?"

"He's busy working right now. Do you need help?" I searched his face, trying to find the motivation behind his helpfulness.

"I'm fine." An ember chose that moment to land on my bare foot, and I sprang up, nearly dropping the hovering water and porridge I held with waterbending. Zuko's hands on my waist stopped my fall.

"Sure, you're fine."

"Hey, what are you doing?" Sokka marched up, sword in one hand, spear in the other. I was rather impressed with how intimidating he looked.

"Helping your sister," Zuko said smoothly.

I noticed Sokka looking rather bruised. "Do you need healing? Sparring with Toph is always tough."

He was still glaring at Zuko. "No, I'm fine."

I turned to Zuko. "Could you please get your hands off of me?"

"Of course."

I bent the rice porridge into bowls and then put my hands up to cup my mouth.

"Lunch!"

"Sokka, what's the plan?"

He paused from his frantic eating. "I think we'll move each day to keep those three crazy girls off our trail, but stay away from the battlefronts until Aang has a bit of a handle on the firebending."

"How's that going, Aang?" I asked. In response he made a small flame appear between his hands and smiled.

"Twinkletoes didn't say anything, what's going on?" Toph finished her porridge with a slurping noise.

"He just created fire."

"Neat."

Sokka looked up with a mischievous look on his face and I lifted an eyebrow.

"Hey Zuko, how do you feel about sparring?"

The prince paused, looking up at Sokka warily. "Why?"

"Well, we should all get some practice against firebenders, you know." My brother's voice was innocent, but I knew better.

"What did you have in mind?" Zuko questioned.

"Enough, Sokka. We all know that you're going to make it so he gets beat up," I put in before he could get started. "Plus, we should probably head out right now. The winds are picking up."

"Shouldn't that mean we shouldn't go?" Toph asked wryly.

"We're really unprotected here," I reasoned. "Staying could be worse."

"If Katara thinks it's a good idea, then let's go." Aang stood.

Storm clouds clustered on the horizon, and I looked at the others in worry. "Guys, I take it back. This was a bad idea."

"A bit late for that, Katara."

The storm drew closer, and I looked to Toph. "Toph, you hold onto the sides like your life depends on it. Which it does. I'm going to try and bend."

"You might fly off," Zuko shouted as the air tried to rip away his voice.

"That's where Sokka comes in. Sokka, hold onto my feet, and if you let go, well, I will be very angry with you."

The roar of the wind drowned out any of Sokka's possible answer. I crouched on the cracked leather saddle, and Sokka's hands wrapped themselves around my ankles. I fiercely waterbended, putting us in a large bubble of water. The winds kept bending the shape, but I had enough control to keep the wall from breaking.

Appa turned drastically, and I slid backwards, Sokka's grip on my feet breaking. A torrent of water drenched all of us, pushing me to the back of the saddle and nearly pulling me off. I desperately grabbed the edge of the saddle. I thought I could hear yelling, but I concentrated on my grip.

The saddle was gone, ripped from my hands. My shrieks were lost in the air and water surrounding me, and I tried to bend the rain to form a shield around myself, but I had lost all control over my body's motions as I tumbled through the air. I closed my eyes. I didn't want to know when I was going to hit the ground.

A blast of warmth caught me by surprise, and something slammed into my back.

"Wha-"

A panting noise, and I opened my eyes. Zuko was holding me, and I looked down to see fire coming out of his feet, slowing our fall.

"Bend," he grunted. In response I pulled the water around both of our stomachs, and bending the tail of it beneath us. The earth came into view and I pushed the water to the ground, cushioning our landing. My legs collapsed under me, and I ended up sprawled against the firebender, staring up into the storm.

"Thank you," I whispered.

"It was nothing." His response was odd; his voice sounding choked. I turned to him.

"It wasn't to me," I murmured. I was shaking, probably from shock.

"Are you hurt?"

"No." The rain continued to pour, and the firebender's hair was plastered to his face. I lifted a tired hand, bending the rain away from the two of us and creating an umbrella of water over our heads.

"Why did you save me?"

His face was expressionless. "I did what had to be done."

I dropped the subject willingly. I was better at killing a man than talking to one.

* * *

**A/N: **This is the last chapter for a couple weeks, unless I manage to get a decent amount of time at a Mcdonalds for some reason. Thanks for reading, and don't worry, I'll be back! :)**  
**


	8. Chapter 8

"Katara!" I was enveloped in a bear hug as Sokka tackled me. "I thought you were dead."

I gave a shaky laugh. Sokka and I were close, and that meant that every time one of us got hurt, the other was hurt as well. It was a painful cycle. Toph and Aang caught up to us and we had a group hug.

"Zuko, get over here. You saved my sister."

I caught a glimpse of his face, and instead of the usual calm, there was a form of indecision and distress. He caught my gaze, and immediately smoothed it over with a smile, and joined our tight hug. When we finally pulled away, he leaned in, barely whispering in my ear.

"Trust."

"How did you survive?"

I turned to Aang. "Zuko can fly with firebending." I let the admiration seep into my voice, but kept the jealousy out. I gave a quick look at our surroundings. "Are we going to set up camp here?"

"It should do," Sokka said, taking into account the sheltering mountains and nearby forest.

Setting up camp took little time, since we had lost most of our supplies during the storm. I watched as everyone drifted off to sleep, and looked up to find that Yue was covered by the clouds. I felt restless. Standing, I moved further away from the others, and pulled the moisture up from the ground. As I ran through my more intense bending exercises, I felt sweat bead up on my brow. It had been too long since I had been in a real battle, and I didn't want to get rusty.

"You really should get some sleep."

Instincts kicked in, and I had thrown three ice daggers before I thought about it. Zuko dodged two, but the last caught him across the face, right next to his scar.

"I'm sorry," I gasped. "Let me heal you."

"It's fine," he growled, but I was already next to him, water coating my hand.

"No, it isn't." I reached up to his face, my water glowing. "I already owe you."

"Why are you trying to keep a tally?" He seemed to relax under my touch, and something swooped deep in my stomach.

"I don't know."

"You keep trying to stay aloof, but you're doing a really bad job at it."

I frowned. "No, I'm not."

"You care too much, Katara."

Something about the way he said my name made me shiver, and I considered taking a step back. I had already healed his cut, but hadn't lifted my hand from his face. "I try not to."

"Look at yourself. You're closer with your brother than I will ever be with Azula, the earthbender is like your sister, and you already care about the Avatar. And me . . ."

"I don't care about you."

"Of course not," he smirked, his golden eyes glinting, "you have your fiance to worry about."

I took my hand away. My complete bafflement at his statement seemed to give him a pause. "What are you talking about?" I finally asked.

"You're betrothed."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"I think I would know if I was betrothed, Zuko." I tilted my head slightly. "Who told you that I was?"

He pointed to my necklace. I laughed aloud. "This necklace was my mother's. Points to you for knowing the Northern Water Tribe traditions. But I'm from the Southern Water Tribe."

"There are still waterbenders left in the Southern Tribe?" Zuko questioned.

I stiffened. "I'm the last." Feeling uncomfortable with how the conversation was going, I took a step back, but Zuko followed my movement.

"How did you learn?"

"I was sent to the Northern Water Tribe after my mom was murdered, okay? Can you stop with the questions?"

I hadn't meant to let him know that, and stood frozen, seeing the pity and sadness in his eyes. I hated pity.

"I'm sorr-"

"Just be quiet. Everyone's sorry. I don't want your pity," I hissed at him.

"How about empathy?" His hands lightly rested on my shoulders. "I lost my mother when I was young as well."

"How?" I asked before I could stop myself.

His eyes looked past me. "She sacrificed herself for me."

"So did mine." On impulse, I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him. I had to go on tip-toe. My mother had been short, and though my father was tall, I had inherited none of his height. Or seemingly any other characteristic. I refocused on Zuko. "I lied. I do care," I whispered in his ear.

"You do?" The choked quality was coloring his voice again, and I pulled back.

"I . . . guess," I muttered. I could see myself reflected in his eyes. I pulled at my tunic, and his eyes snapped down and then back up.

"What are you doing?"

"My tattoo." I pulled off my left sleeve and the shoulder of my under-bindings, showing him the sea star-flower tattoo that was near my heart. The only place in the world where there were sea star-flowers was a small island we had once visited before my mother had been killed. She had been especially fond of them.

Zuko pulled me out of my recollections. "It's beautiful."

"Thanks." Feeling self-conscious, I straightened my clothes and backed up. "So, I guess I'll see you in the morning."

"Yeah."

* * *

"Feel like sparring?"

I smiled at Zuko. "Sure."

"Before you do that, Katara, could I talk to you?"

I looked to Sokka. "Um, okay."

The two of us walked a fair distance away from our camp. My brother turned to me, his face stern. "What's going on with you?"

"What do you mean?" I parried, trying to collect my thoughts and predict what Sokka was going to say.

"I get that Zuko saved your life, but the way you act around him . . . do you like him?"

"I-what are you talking about," I scoffed. "I'm a soldier, not some emotional little girl."

"I'm not Toph, but I can tell when you're lying."

"There's just something different about him," I muttered. "Sure, I like him."

"Just be careful, okay?"

"I always am," I said. Sokka still looked uncomfortable. "What else?"

"About Dad . . ."

I turned away. "There's nothing to talk about."

"I got a letter from the front."

I snatched it from Sokka's hand and read through it quickly. I kept my face carefully blank as I handed it back to him. Chief Hakoda had outlined certain key bases to find and told Sokka to take care of himself. He hadn't mentioned me. "Our mission is clear enough."

"That's not what we need to talk about. Have you tried talking to him?"

"That's a little difficult, now that we're so far away," I said, my voice harsher than I meant it to be.

"Before?"

"No, I didn't."

"He does love you."

I laughed. "You know, it goes both ways. I can tell when you're lying too." My brother's face was pained, and I managed a small smile. "You don't have to worry about me, Sokka."

"Hey, so have we worked out who's the superior officer among us?" Toph always managed to be in the exact wrong place at the exact wrong time.

"Does it matter?" I asked, working myself back into a semi-calm state. Toph raised an eyebrow in my direction, and I discreetly stomped the ground once, telling her not to worry about it.

"Well, say one of us does something particularly brave and fearsome, who will reward her?"

"What'd you do?" I looked past Toph curiously, seeing only our camp.

"Diverted a group of Fire Nation. You're welcome."

"What? Where?" The others had started listening in, and Aang leapt out of his firebending training and whirled towards us on some kind of air ball.

Toph smirked. "Well, right about now they are deep underground in some caves, feeling very lost."

Aang looked concerned. "Shouldn't we at least let them out? What if they are stuck down there for good?"

"Aang, we talked about this," I murmured. The airbender looked sheepish.

"Ah, yeah, I'll just go back to my firebending . . ."

"Want to spar, Katara?" Zuko spoke up.

I still felt anxious and upset, but managed a curt nod. We separated ourselves from the others, getting out of eyesight. Without warning, I attacked him with a quick water whip, followed by ice daggers.

"Whoa, wait a minute, Katara, don't you need a larger water source or-" I cut him off with a fist in his gut.

His good eye and his scarred one narrowed. A burst of fire sent me reeling back, and I scrambled to evade, not willing to use my water up in a direct confrontation of the fire. As I rolled out of the way of another blast, I pulled water from the grass, creating sharp disks and hurling them towards Zuko's face.

All of the feelings hidden within me were breaking out in waves, and even as we fought tears began to cloud my vision. A hard strike caught me in the stomach and I was thrown backwards, the wind knocked out of me.

"What is up with you? Do you want me dead? You're fighting like you want to kill me."

"I don't . . . I'm going to go back." I picked myself up.

"Oh, no you don't." Zuko's smirk was absent for once, and it made me wary.

"Why not?" I asked while backing up.

He mirrored my movement. "Something's up, and you're going to tell me what it is."

"Why would I tell you?"

"Because you trust me."

"Just . . . leave me alone." I turned my back on him.

"What kind of soldier turns her back on her enemy?"

"You're my enemy?" I twisted sharply, throwing him a look.

"Am I?" He chose to remain ambiguous. I scowled at him.

"Don't play with me."

"I'm not."

My scowl deepened. "My dad hates me, that's it. I'm just overreacting."

"He can't hate you as much as mine." I raised an eyebrow. Zuko continued. "Mine sent me to the most dangerous outpost so that I would die, because he loves my sister more." I laughed weakly. Zuko's expression became serious. "Hey, don't worry about it. You're going to be fine."

"How do you know?" I sighed.

"Because." He stepped close to me, lightly wrapping his arms around me. Bending over, he pressed his lips against my forehead. My heartbeat pounding in my ears, I stood frozen.

"Katara, Zuko! Where are you two?"

Zuko stepped back, his expression unreadable. "Let's go."

"Right."

* * *

**A/N: **Hey guys! I'm back! So let me know what you think, review and such! I know it's a boring chapter, but I have to build up some sort of dynamic between Katara and Zuko. Hope I don't scare too many non-zutarians away with these chapters ;)**  
**


	9. Chapter 9

We reached a battlefront, for the first time since Zuko had joined us.

"Aang, I wouldn't attack with firebending. You know how to defend it now, but there's a chance you could hurt the rest of us if you tried to attack," Zuko advised. Aang nodded obediently. I pulled the airbender aside.

"You're going to have to do it. You can, just don't think about it." I put a hand on his shoulder. "Promise me you won't hesitate."

"I promise." His face looked too tired. I gave him a small smile.

"Suit up, soldiers." Sokka finished putting on his war paint and looked to me. "Katara, you using paint?"

I nodded, taking the black, white, and gray and smearing it liberally on my face in the traditional warrior patterns.

"Do you always wear paint?"

I turned to Zuko, shocked to find his face obscured by a grinning blue mask. "Do you always wear a mask?"

"I'm fighting my own people here." He pulled out two swords and spun them about expertly. I shrugged.

"It's war paint, it's supposed to be intimidating." I drew my long dagger and picked up my spear, considering them both. I finally sheathed the dagger and strapped the spear across my back. "Toph, you set?"

"Always, Sweetness."

"Sweetness?" Zuko smirked.

I stuck my tongue out at him. Toph laughed. "Well, guess I need a nickname for Zuko . . . how does Hotman sound? Or maybe Sparky?"

"Oh no."

"Sparky it is." Toph put on her metal gauntlets and flexed them. "Do we have a specific plan of attack?"

Sokka scowled in the General's direction. "No, this guy isn't what I would call organized."

"Well, we can have a plan," I said firmly. "I say we pair up. Well, except one person has to be alone."

"I'll be alone," Aang volunteered. "Airbending only works when I can use it unreservedly. If I have to worry about knocking any of you over . . ."

"Are you sure?" I stared at him intently. He smiled.

"I'll be fine."

"How do we want to pair up?" Sokka asked.

"I'll be with Katara," Zuko decided. I winced and watched as Sokka glared at the firebender.

"She gets hurt, and you die," he threatened.

"I don't think you have to worry about Katara. You should worry about me."

"True enough," Sokka returned. The horn blew.

We sprinted forward, splitting up as we went. Aang created a ball of air and shot away. I lost sight of him among the hills that made up the beginning of the battlefield. Toph and Sokka left us on a platform of rock. Gritting my teeth, I settled into a pounding rhythm.

Three firebenders, running as we were, seemed to sprout from the ground in front of us as we reached the top of one hill. The two of us transitioned from running to fighting. Zuko blocked their immediate attacks while I followed up by lashing out with icy daggers, slitting one's throat and piercing another's eye. The last one was taken care of by Zuko's twin swords. I pulled out my spear and we rushed down the hill, into the main valley of battle. Once or twice I lost track of Zuko, but he always managed to have my back when I needed it most.

A flash of orange passed me, and I saw Aang knock over an enemy soldier. He didn't kill him. Forgetting Zuko, I rushed forward, pulling out my dagger as I went. Aang looked to me, panicked.

"I can't. . ."

I threw him my dagger. "Be strong, Aang."

Without looking, the airbender stabbed the prone soldier. I nodded, and he tossed me my knife, looking sick.

"Save the vomiting for afterwards," I advised. Leaving him, I found Zuko taking on two firebenders at once, and helped him finish them off.

"Doing okay there, Katara?"

"Of course," I panted, kicking away a body. Blood spurted from the wound I had just inflicted on the man, and I winced.

"How is this battle still going on?"

I glanced around. "This is really drawn out." Bodies were piled everywhere. I scanned them quickly for Toph and Sokka, but they were nowhere to be found.

"Retreat?" Zuko suggested.

"I guess," I replied, still searching for any sign of my brother and Toph.

The two of us took two bodies of fallen Earth Kingdom soldiers each for a proper funeral. I felt like throwing up or destroying something. It had to have been the commanding officer's fault for how many had died on the battlefield.

By the time we made it back to camp the sun was setting.

"Katara, get over here, quick!" Aang's voice was panicked, and I unceremoniously dumped the bodies on the ground and rushed over to them.

"Sokka, what did you do this time?"

"It's just a scratch."

I gasped. "Some scratch," I managed to say, pulling water to what was left of his ear.

Sokka shrugged. "I don't like that ear anyway. Stuck out too much." The healing glow left the water, and I stared at Sokka's ear stump.

"Sorry I wasn't there," I whispered.

Sokka pulled me into a one-armed hug and said nothing.

"Hey, let me see."

"But Toph, you can't . . ."

The blind earthbender had put her hands on Sokka's wound, resulting in Sokka jumping with a yelp and Toph falling over.

I helped Toph up. "Watch out, Sokka is fragile." Sokka spluttered, and I continued on. "I say we get out of here. It's suicide fighting on this battlefield."

"Agreed."

* * *

**A/N: **Here, have a tiny chapter. So far I've been staying ahead of myself, writing at least one chapter extra before I post . . . hopefully I can keep it up. I am not sure how long this will draw out, but unfortunately college calls in two weeks. Anyway, please review! :)**  
**


	10. Chapter 10

"What are you doing?"

I didn't turn. The full moon's power was filling me, and I could feel the heartbeat, and knew it was Zuko. "Talking to Yue."

"Who?"

"My best friend up in the Northern Water Tribe."

"She on a battlefield?'

"She's the moon."

Zuko sat down next to me. "You might as well tell me."

"I'm sure you heard about the invasion of the North pole. It was while I was up there, and it is what got the tribe involved in the war. Yue sacrificed herself for the moon spirit, and the ocean spirit destroyed the Fire Nation fleet. She was my friend."

"You've lost so much."

I looked at Zuko. "Everyone's lost something in this war, Zuko." On impulse I reached my right hand up and barely touched the skin underneath his scar. I felt his jaw work and clench. Biting back my fear, I slid my fingers up to brush the rough skin around his eye. Fire flared up around me, and I pulled back.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, moving to get up. A hand around my wrist stopped me.

"It's . . . fine." Zuko pulled my hand up to his own face, placing it over his scar. His eyes were shut tightly. I realized that I had stopped breathing and took a deep breath. His eyes opened, and I immediately averted my own. My cheeks felt hot.

"I'll just go to bed now," I murmured. Zuko's hand didn't leave my own, and I felt his other on my back.

"I don't think so."

I looked up, and saw a dangerous glitter in his eyes. My view of him became obscured as he pulled me close and pressed his lips against my own.

"How cute."

I pulled back with a gasp. Behind Zuko were the three girls, Azula, the knife girl, and the pink one.

"I don't think we've been properly introduced. I'm Princess Azula, this is Mai, and this is Ty Lee." The pink girl smiled and waved. I stared.

"Hello, Azula." Zuko stood and turned. "How are you doing?"

"Oh, you know, brother. Chasing down deserters and enemies. The usual."

"Deserters," Zuko repeated slowly.

"Are you one?" Azula asked. Her voice was silky smooth. Zuko made no reply and I turned to look at him, panicked.

"Zuko . . ." We stared at each other for a moment. I watched as his face became hard and focused.

"Traitor," I hissed. In response he threw flames towards me. I heard Azula's laugh as I dodged.

"Would you like to take her down yourself, or shall we do it together, brother?"

"Or how about all of you surrender to me?" I suggested.

Their laughter filled the air, but I ignored it, focusing on the moon's power. When I drew up all the water in the surrounding area, from the grass, trees, and the air, their laughter faltered.

"Azula, what's the plan?" Ty Lee asked.

"We convince this peasant to tell us where the Avatar is."

"Torture?" The knife girl-Mai-said coolly.

"Of course." The princess's smile was feral.

"I thought you had changed," I murmured, my eyes only on Zuko. He had the decency to look slightly ashamed of himself.

"I'm sorry."

I attacked sending four whips slicing towards each of them. Zuko and Azula reacted as I expected, blasting the water with fire and creating steam. The other two dodged, and Mai responded with darts. I blocked them with a quick shield of ice and then took half of my remaining water and created even more steam. Moving swiftly, I felt out each of their bodies by their blood. It would be suicide to reveal that I knew bloodbending, so I didn't want to use it to actually kill them.

I sought out Ty Lee first, approaching her from behind and slitting her throat. I started to find Mai, augmenting the steam again, as the fire bending siblings tried to burn it away.

"Katara? Zuko?" I heard Toph's voice and I panicked.

"Run!" I shrieked. "No chance, just do it!"

"I won't leave you, Katara!" Now there was Sokka's voice. Fire rushed towards him.

"Get out of here!"

"Katara!" I looked up and saw Aang flying, high above the steam.

"Aang, don't-" My shout didn't get very far as lightning streaked past me, striking the airbender. He fell, and I pulled my remaining water underneath me in a wave so that I caught him.

"Retreat!" I yelled. A roar from Appa startled me, and I almost dropped Aang.

I was rocketed upward and landed clumsily in the saddle, nearly crushing the boy I held. Toph had kicked us up, correctly judging where Appa was.

"Don't let the Avatar escape!" Azula's cry was desperate. I looked back and saw Zuko standing, staring. Our eyes locked, and then Appa took off.

"Katara, quick, heal him."

I turned my attention to Aang. "This is bad," I muttered. The lightning had struck him directly in the center of his back. I pulled my water to me and began healing immediately. The nerves were fried, and I put all my effort into healing hem.

"Sokka, look through my pack for a small, dark blue waterskin."

He tossed me it and I carefully took out a small amount of my water from the Spirit Oasis. I healed him, and he woke up with a gasp.

"Thank you, Katara," he mumbled before slipping back into unconsciousness

"No problem," I muttered to no one. I twisted around to face Sokka and Toph. "We agreed long ago that the only person you come back for is Aang. We can't endanger this mission. Got it? You should have left me."

Sokka and Toph nodded reluctantly.

"Where's Zuko?" Toph asked. My breath caught in my throat.

"He betrayed you, didn't he?" Sokka asked tersely. I didn't answer. My brother growled. "By Tui, I'll kill him."

Toph crawled across the saddle towards me. In an uncharacteristic gesture, she reached out and squeezed my shoulder. "It'll be okay, Sweetness."

"It'll be okay when I snap his neck." I muttered under my breath.

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks for the review, F1nal Front1er! Meant a lot to me :)**  
**

and oh man. The betrayal. I had to have it in there.

Oh, and to any Ty Lee fans, I'm sorry. But hey, this is war.


	11. Chapter 11

The night was thick with fog. It was comforting, feeling my element surrounding me, but my situation was anything but calm. I adjusted the cloth around my body and slid forward.

"Who's there?"

I killed the soldier and dumped his body in the water. The splash wasn't loud enough to attract any attention. I let myself into the hut he had been guarding, finding several scrolls detailing Fire Nation military movement. I memorized the information, and then placed it back where I had found it.

I moved on, sneaking in to what I had seen earlier was the hospital. Covering my hands with water, I approached the first bed, staring down at a child whose left leg was missing and side had an ugly open wound. I concentrated on his side. The boy stirred and I ducked away, the wide-brimmed straw hat and veil I was wearing keeping my face hidden. I went to the next bed. A woman, dry, feverish. I healed her quickly.

A noise forced me to run away. I found the end of a dock and jumped off, feet making first contact with the water, and I ran, skating across the sluggish water.

My bare feet hit marshy ground. Exhilarated, I crept into our camp.

"Did you really think you could sneak away?" Toph was standing with her arms crossed.

"Well, you're a sound sleeper, sometimes," I whispered.

"We're going to talk about this in the morning," she hissed back.

"Why not right now?" I pulled on Toph's arm. "I'd rather not talk in front of the boys."

We moved a distance from the others. I pulled off my costume as I went.

"So, where were you?"

"In the village."

"Doing what?"

"Getting information and healing."

"Katara. We've been hiding out for more than a couple weeks, and now you decide to play vigilante? Why?" Toph put a hand on her hip.

I managed a tired shrug, knowing she could feel it. "I was just restless, and I wanted to help this town."

Toph snorted. "You've never cared about helping civilians before. Why the change?"

"I'm also taking out Fire Nation soldiers."

"This is revenge, isn't it?"

"I . . . no."

"Do I even need to mention it?" Toph pointed to her feet, and then raised the accusatory finger to my face. "That heart of yours gives everything away."

"Fine, I'm blowing off steam. But I got the movements of three major Fire Nation battleships."

"Fair enough. But you get hurt, and I'm not coming after you."

"Of course not."

The younger girl bit her lip. "Any way I could help?"

"Remember the part where you hate walking on wood?" I slung my arm around her.

"True," she murmured. Her face became fierce. "Don't you dare die."

"Didn't you know, Toph, I'm immortal?"

"I thought I was the immortal one." Toph paused. "Well, Miss Immortal, we need some sleep. Especially if you'll be sneaking out in the middle of the night again."

* * *

"How are you feeling, Aang?"

"Better. Can I try airbending?"

"No." I idly stirred the soup and gave Aang a severe look. "You might aggravate the wound."

"But I'm bored." He flashed me his biggest smile and attached some kind of pleading look on his face. "Do we have some marbles?"

I couldn't help gaping at him. "Marbles?"

"Here you go Twinkletoes." While I had been talking with Aang, Toph had made some out of rock.

"Watch this!" Aang took the rocks and used airbending to spin them in a fast little circle between his outstretched hands. His goofy expression of concentration made me smile.

"So, another fun day of sitting." Sokka flopped down beside me and grabbed a bowl of soup. "More training?"

I stretched. "I suppose." I turned to Aang. "You should practice firebending," I suggested.

After a sigh, his face suddenly lit up. "Or I could go into the spirit world! I don't need my body for that."

"Uh, right . . . just don't get lost," I advised.

Aang smiled and then slowly sat up, careful not to jar his back, and began meditating.

"C'mon," Toph whispered. "Let's go spar."

Only twenty minutes later, Aang's yell sent us all flying back to camp.

"What is it?"

"Fire Nation?"

"Aang!"

We found him lying on his back, tears streaming down his face. When he saw us, he hurriedly wiped them away.

"What happened?"

"I can't do it. I can't go into the Avatar State."

"Are you trying hard enough?" Toph dropped to the ground.

It was the first time I had seen Aang angry. "I can't do it! I tried! I'm a failure as the Avatar, and I'm never going to make a difference in this war!"

I could feel myself aging as I watched him. He was fifteen. By all rights none of us should be fighting.

"Get up, Aang." I broke through his excuses angrily.

"But you said that I shouldn't-"

"I said, get up."

Clumsily, he pushed himself onto his knees, back poker-straight.

"Faster."

His eyes darkened. "I can't."

"If you can't, then you are going to be at a huge disadvantage when we spar."

"Spar?" The other three echoed. Aang's face was panicked. I drew up water from the sludge behind me.

"You have three seconds. One, two . . ."

Aang pushed himself to his feet, with a sharp cry of pain. I managed not to wince.

"Come on then, Avatar. Show me what you got."

I took it easy on him, but pretended not to. He was hurting. A particularly harsh blow from myself sent him sprawling, his back arching against a rock. I slashed another whip towards him, but then his tattoos and eyes began to glow.

"See, Aang, you can do it," I rejoiced.

"That might have been a bad idea, Katara." Sokka took a step back. The wind was picking up, and a miniature tornado was starting up. Frightened, I shouted, but the noise was torn away by the waves of wind running over the three of us.

I pushed my way in to the center, finding Aang and grabbing him.

"Aang! Snap out of it!" I looked into his glowing eyes, and then closed my own. "Please."

The wind finally settled, and I was left holding his limp body.

"I've gotta say, Katara, that was one of the biggest mistakes I've seen you make. And you've made some pretty bad ones."

"Thanks, Sokka," I muttered. I looked down at Aang, whose breathing was settling out.

"What happened?" His eyes barely opened.

I sighed with relief. "You went into the Avatar state."

"I did? Great!" Aang leapt straight up, and then floated back down to earth, wincing and holding his back. "Well, glad that's out of the way!"

"Yeah, all we have to do is punch you in the back and you can have all the power in the world," Sokka said sarcastically.

Aang looked thoughtful. "I doubt it was that. It was probably a combination of desperation and the fact that I had been trying for so long to trigger-"

"Shh!" Toph put a hand down on the earth. "I hear footsteps. Your little windstorm was noticed."

"Let's get out of here." Sokka grabbed his pack and turned to mine.

"No, wait."

"Katara, we have to leave."

"I have some unfinished business." I looked out over the murky water to the town. "You guys go ahead. I'll catch up."

"Are you crazy?"

"Let her do her thing," Toph said, grabbing Sokka's hand. "She can take care of herself."

Sokka seemed to want to protest more, but Toph wrapped an arm around Sokka's side and catapulted the two of them onto Appa.

"Yip yip!"

I watched them leave, a tight feeling in my throat. I was all alone.

* * *

**A/N: **My reviewers, flame55 and ArrayePL, thank you so much for your input. Though to flame55, was that a rhetorical question? Or if it was an actual question, what precisely were you referring to?

Unfortunately some bad news-college is coming up *SOB* yeah. Never fear . . . I WILL FINISH. but moving in and starting new classes will take up my time for a couple weeks. So bear with the hopefully short wait, and thanks for reading!


	12. Chapter 12

"I hear the Painted Lady has returned."

"She doesn't exist."

The two soldiers walked on, while I waited, floating underneath the dock. As they turned a corner I swam out, pulling myself up and waterbending myself dry. My bare feet kept the noise down to a minimum as I skirted along the edges of the huts. It had been two days since my friends had left. It was time to make a difference.

The waning moon was making things difficult, and my normal ability to sense where people were by their blood was dulled. I managed to avoid most of the guards and make it to the main fort. I glanced up at the factory. That was my next target.

"Have you heard from the Omashu battlefront, sir?"

I froze.

"Sounds like Zhao's cornered pretty tight."

"That won't be a problem for long." The high, female voice cut through the soldier's mumbling. "Once the three of us go over there."

"So you are only passing through, princess?"

"Yes. We are only here to investigate the rumors of the Avatar's sighting. A glow and a windstorm was reported."

"Most of the men seem to attribute that to a spirit." The male addressing Azula coughed slightly. "Superstitions, mostly from the recent unfortunate occurrences."

"I see . . ." The princess's voice was smooth. "So, tell me. Are these unfortunate occurrences the result of mistakes? Or an outside source?"

"I am . . . not sure . . ." The man sounded terrified.

"There should be no uncertainty among the ranks of the Fire Nation soldiers." The familiar roaring sound of fire filled my ears and I backed up, diving into the water and bending myself far away. By the time I reached the shore, I was trembling and gasping. My plan was to destroy the factory, but with Azula, Mai, and Zuko present, it seemed like a near impossible task.

A day passed. I slept and prepared myself. Night drew near, and I began applying the red war paint that was part of the Painted Lady's costume. I left the hat and veil behind, as they would only get in the way. Darkness cloaked me as I skimmed across the water, bypassing the village and heading straight for the factory.

The guards patrolling the entrance were on high alert. I drew myself on a wave, careful to keep it contained so that no splashing sound would be heard. Once I reached the roof, I landed on my toes, drawing up the water with me. I would need it.

A quick search, and I found the roof entrance. Freezing and breaking the lock with my normal technique would have been too noisy, so instead I carefully bended water inside the cracks and keyhole, freezing and unfreezing so that the metal buckled under the strain of its expansion. I pried the lock away.

Thankfully, the building was empty at night. I prepared everything as silently as possible, freezing key components and waiting to bend all the water from the pipes until the very end of my mission. I reached the main boiler room and paused, wiping sweat and some paint from my brow.

"Oh no, it looks like the Painted Lady walks again!"

A burst of blue fire forced me to twist away from my goal, and turn to face the Fire Nation scum.

"Huh, I thought spirits were better looking," Mai said loftily, handling a deadly-looking shuriken.

I had avoided looking at Zuko, but my eyes finally found his. They were emotionless, and I turned back to the other two, shoving away all feelings except for anger.

"I have some unfinished work here. So if you would kindly leave," I said with a forced smile. My hands behind my back, I took control of the water in the boiler, preparing to freeze it. My one worry was that I wouldn't be able to block any fire from the trio. Or daggers.

"Zuko, would you like to take this one?" Azula turned to her brother, and I saw Mai's gaze also trail over to him, something in her eyes beyond the normal glance of a fellow soldier. I forced myself not to dwell on it, and while they were distracted, froze the water in the boiler. It exploded violently and sent me to the floor. A large shard of metal had caught me across the arm, while, as the steam cleared, I saw that my enemies had been uninjured because of their armor.

Cursing my ridiculous costume I stumbled to my feet, bending some of the remaining ice with my good arm and directing it towards Azula, but I was surprised by the ferocity that came from Mai as she sprang towards me, dagger raised. I managed to turn my head as I fell with her on top of me, and instead of stabbing my eye, the blade gave me a deep gash in the forehead. My head made contact with ground. Dazed, I stared up at the girl.

"That was for Ty Lee," she hissed. "And this-" she dug the knife into my wounded shoulder, "-is for stealing Zuko from me."

"Now now, Mai, leave some fun for later," Azula laughed. I felt Mai's weight leaving my stomach, but was unable to move, much less fight the three of them. As someone dragged me away, part of my costume ripped, leaving me even more vulnerable.

One thought kept haunting me. The whole time, Zuko hadn't said a word.

* * *

"I am tempted to leave her to Mai. I've never seen so much emotion from her before." Azula's voice came from around the corner. I heard water beneath the wooden floor, but stayed inert to avoid drawing attention.

"So you've drugged her?"

"Oh yes. She won't be able to bend for a couple days, at least."

I almost groaned aloud, but held it back."

"Azula, what are you going to do with her?"

"Please, Zuko, tell me you don't still have feelings for her."

There was a slight pause. "I was just wondering."

"She's a prisoner of war. She will be treated as such."

* * *

The new moon drew close. With the darkness also came my weakness. I was visited daily by Mai, but hadn't seen Zuko once.

"You know, Ty Lee taught me a lot about the human pain threshold. How about we find yours?"

"Does this make you feel better?" I asked, watching the girl as she prowled around my position. My hands were tied onto the wall by a short amount of chain, leaving me in a vulnerable sitting position. "Will it make Ty Lee come back?"

"What I feel doesn't matter . . . it never has," Mai growled.

"This is war. Feelings never do," I murmured.

"Mai."

I whipped my head around, seeing Zuko standing beyond the bars. His eyes were avoiding mine and remained focused on Mai.

"Oh, Zuko dear," Mai purred. I saw her eyes look spitefully at me for a moment, and then refocus on Zuko. "Would you like to help me?"

"We need to go."

Mai slid out of the cell and then wrapped herself around Zuko seductively, pressing her mouth against his for far too long. I couldn't help stirring, my chains clinking as I tried to look away. My lips were pressed tightly together, and I forced myself to separate them, letting out a quiet breath.

I heard Mai's low laugh, and by the time I looked up, I saw that they was gone. I didn't have the strength to stop my tears.

* * *

**A/N: **When I first got on , I saw practically every author saying stuff like "review!" and "more reviews and I'll do _"

I thought it was bogus, but now that I actually have stories, and reviewers, I see the appeal. Reviews really make me want to write more and give you more stuff!

So BigTimeLive, thank you for the nicest review I've ever gotten! and ArrayePL, thanks for the review, and in answer to your question as to whether or not they are in the Fire Nation now, I'd say they're in territory taken over by the Fire Nation. I know this probably doesn't match exactly to the original, but geography-wise, I think it'll work for this story. I haven't been too precise . . . sorry ^^


	13. Chapter 13

The sound of footsteps did not induce me to open my eyes. If I pretended sleep, there was a chance I could escape more taunting.

"Katara."

I couldn't help my breath from hitching at his voice. All the feelings of betrayal and false love surged through me, and I couldn't help looking up.

"Prince Zuko." I tried to sound spiteful, but my lips trembled in spite of me.

"We only have a couple minutes. You've got to get out of here."

I stared at him. "Are you convoluted enough to attempt another betrayal? Or let me guess, you leaving was just a ploy again, so that _just_ in case I was captured you could set me free."

"No, Katara, it was just . . . I was weak, I didn't know what I wanted, and . . ."

"No more excuses." I turned my head away. Hearing my cell unlock, I waited until the footsteps drew close enough, and then lashed out, kicking Zuko in the knee so that he fell, dropping the keys as he did so. Thankfully my feet were bare, and I grabbed at the ring with my toes, contorting myself so that I managed to pass the keys from my foot to my hand. I realized Zuko was getting up, and as his head was in my reach, I applied my heel to his skull. He fell back with a groan, and I worked on getting free.

"If, by helping me escape, you were planning on regaining my trust, you are going to have to work harder," I hissed under my breath.

"Katara . . . please."

"I will never let my weakness show again. Next time I see you, I will kill you," I promised. I stepped over him, closing the cell door behind me, but not locking it. "You better get out of here, unless you want to be branded a traitor again."  
I was still unable to waterbend. Dodging every guard was difficult, but doable, though by the time I made it out of their prison complex, morning was drawing near. The town had no place to hide except for the villagers homes, and I darted into one.

A shriek betrayed my entrance and I whirled, using a now-useless waterbending move out of instinct.

"Mom, don't." The child with the missing leg was sitting in the corner. His round eyes stared at me. "It's the Painted Lady."

I looked over to his mother, and bowed. "I am sorry to interrupt. But I am in trouble. Please, could you help me?"

The woman looked over me. Most of my paint had been washed off, and my costume was barely decent because of the tearing. Her eyes flickered over to my wounded shoulder. "You are hurt." The woman led me to a cot and made me sit. Taking a basin of water, she began washing my wound. "My husband is a soldier. If you see him, please spare him."

I sucked in a tired breath. "I give you my word as a soldier. How will I know who he is?"

"I will tell him to wrap a red cloth around his shoulder. And his name is Ishi."

I heard shouting and flinched. I glanced at the woman and boy. "You are not safe with me here." The woman silently took the red-tinged water and dumped it down a hatch in their floor. The murky water lay below.

"I can go out there," I said.

"Very well. You may be an enemy, but you have my blessing."

I looked up at the mother. "For your sake, I hope your husband will be safe." I crossed the room and touched the little boy's head. "Stay strong," I whispered.

"Quickly," the woman murmured. I dropped into the thick water and floundered for a second, unable to respond and bend the water around me. I looked up and saw the hatch close. I dove, kicking furiously so that I could get as far as I could without surfacing. Too soon I had to take a breath, and shouts told me I was discovered.

The roar of fire, and I turned. Azula was moving across the water as if she were a waterbender, but was using fire to keep her aloft. Steam rose from the water behind her.

She was almost on top of me when I dove, trying to stay under the surface so that she couldn't reach me. I looked up through the water to see the fire pass over my position. I began to swim frantically in the opposite direction, only to hear the whirring sound of motorboats. Desperate for air, I surfaced and continued swimming. A blast of fire stopped me, and when I turned, a boat blocked my path. I was caught.

"Well, that was entertaining to say the least," Azula said as I was dumped onto the dock in front of her. I saw her glance to Zuko. "I'm afraid that we now have the right to sentence you to death. You did try to escape."

"Right now?" Zuko asked. Azula nodded.

"We can't risk another escape. And we need to move on and get to Commander Zhao's outpost."

She didn't know it, but they were headed right for my father's base. She turned back to me.

"Any last words, filth?"

I paused, and then spoke slowly. "I may die today, but no matter what you do, you will never win."

"Spoken like a true soldier. Now . . ."

A groan from the sky, and Appa had come smashing down, whipping most of the soldiers away with a blow from his tail.

"Katara, quickly!"

I had never been so happy to see Sokka. I swung onto the saddle. "Go, go!"

"That's the last time I let you go anywhere by yourself," my brother shouted as we took off.

* * *

We landed to cheers and shouts.

"Toph!" I went first for the earthbender, knocking her over in a hug, quickly joined by my brother and Aang.

The greetings were frantic, almost desperate. The sharp pain in my chest only grew as I was surrounded by the many we had left behind. Haru, Jet, Smellerbee, the Duke . . . they were all still there. Still alive.

"Soldiers! Get back to your duties."

I heard Chief Hakoda's voice and flinched. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Sokka's face tighten, and then he pulled me away.

"We'll be waiting, Katara," I heard Jet say.

Toph gave me a friendly punch on the shoulder.

"Katara, Sokka. Report." We followed him into the tent.

I was biting my lip, and had to think about it in order to stop myself from drawing blood.

"So," my father said, turning on me, "what gave you the right to go against orders?"

I remained silent. When it grew too unbearable, Sokka broke the silence.

"She was helping the war effort!"

Hakoda held up a hand. "I am not talking to you. Sokka, you may leave."

I saw Sokka's eyes spark in anger, and his lips were white from being so tightly held together.

"Sokka," I whispered, "just go."

He scowled, but complied. I turned to my father.

"I made my decision. Punish me as you wish."

It wasn't the answer he wanted. My father's face darkened. I waited.

"Are you a soldier, or not?" he hissed.

He had gone too far, and I felt rage bubbling up inside. "How dare you ask that?" I snapped at him, "I've given everything to this war. And to you."

I saw a faint expression of surprise, but then it was overcast with a terrible scowl of hatred, and for a moment, it was like looking into a mirror.

"You may be my daughter, but that is no way to talk to your superior officer," he snarled.

I laughed bitterly. "Oh, I'm your daughter now? I haven't been, ever since my mother, your wife, died. Don't try to deny it. Kill me for being a traitor, but don't lie to my face."

His hand raised to slap me, and I stood my ground. It came down, a stinging blow across my cheek.

"Is that my punishment?" I let a smirk dance across my face, and then twist into an ugly frown.

Chief Hakoda seemed to hold an angry retort back. He let out a tense sigh. "Leave."

I swept out of the room, back straight, chin high. But only a few steps out of the tent, and Sokka had found me, and I was sobbing on his shoulder.

"I'm here, sis, I'm here." After a while he held me back at arms length. He touched my cheek. "He did this?"

I shrugged, wiping at my tears. "Don't worry about it. Let's get back to work."

* * *

**A/N: **Well, I am officially at college. And am going to be overtaken with a huge workload SDJKFLJDSFK:. Ugh. Anatomy and Chinese are the toughies this semester . . . . But hey, I will write! Just not as much, I'm afraid. So I'll ask for patience from you guys as I try to get stuff done.

**YumiKoO-O**, thank you for the review!

And thank you,** NickCutter, **for the suggestions. Unfortunately I won't be able to use your idea exactly, because I had already written this before I got your review, but never fear, I have not forgotten Momo! I guess this is as good a time as any to say what I should've said from the beginning, that I love new ideas for this story! No matter how random they are, let me know what you think should happen next in the story!

**F1nal Front1er**, you are definitely right, with war!katara's personality, she would've used bloodbending, but you'll note that a couple times I mentioned that the moon was waning, and then went to new . . . and with her skills the way they are, she wouldn't have the ability to use bloodbending that much without a stronger moon. At least, that's how I explained it to myself. I wanted a Sokka rescue, too :3

And, you'll note with this chapter, that we're getting more into the Hakoda and Katara relationship. It's something that I felt should have been highlighted more with the actual show, but was only mentioned once with that 3rd season's first episode. So now I'm doing it myself :D


	14. Chapter 14

Growing up in the Southern Water Tribe, I had been fishing ever since I was three. Though I hadn't fished in years, I still knew how to mend nets. I sat on the ground, fingers winding and tying the knots. It had been Jet's idea to set traps in order to entangle the enemy. While it didn't hold them long, it was long enough to get a good spear strike in.

"How are you doing?"

I looked up in surprise to see Jet. "Um, fine?"

He sat down close to me. "You've seemed different, ever since you've come back."

I looked back to my netting and re-did a knot. "People change."

"You're angry."

My head snapped up. "What?"

"I can see it in your face. I would know, since I'm always angry."

I half-smiled. "Yeah, you and your revenge."

"I know I'm the joke of this front. But I don't care."

I shrugged. "What's it to me?"

"Well, you don't have to feel so alone." Jet placed a hand on my shoulder as he rose. "Just so you know."

He was walking off when I got up and went after him. "Jet."

"What is it?"

"Well . . . thanks." I felt awkward and my hand drifted behind my neck to fiddle with stray hairs from my braid.

He gave me an odd look, but then his customary large grin spread across his face. "It's nothing. How 'bout next raid we fight together?"

"Sure."

* * *

Throwing myself back into routine hadn't been easy. What had once been normal was now foreign, and I constantly felt out of place. To add to that, raids were shorter, and easier. The Fire Nation was holding back, keeping their attacks few and far between. Now I knew that it was because they were waiting for Azula and Zuko.

Something that threw me off as well was how Jet kept being nice to me. Before I had left, he had hardly paid me any attention at all.

"Katara, where are you going?" Sokka asked.

"Jet wanted to train with me."

He frowned. "I suppose this new boyfriend is an improvement from the last one, but I still don't like him."

"Zuko wasn't my boyfriend, and neither is Jet," I snapped. "And what right do you have to tell me who I like?" Sokka's pained expression caused immediate guilt, and I ducked my head. "I'm sorry."

"Go on. You're right, it's your decision." Sokka turned away and I almost went after him, but Jet called me away.

By the time we had finished training, the sun had started to set, and the rest of the camp was settling down.

"Jet, you go ahead. I'm going to be work some more."

"All right."

In the dimming light, I went through my bloodbending forms. It was a forbidden art that I had learned by accident in a raid during the full moon, and I had yet to use it during a fight. Part of me felt it was cheating, and the other part was horrified at its terrible power.

I sensed a body, but wasn't able to decipher who it was.

"Who's there?" I called out. No one answered. "I will kill you if you don't reveal who you are," I warned.

"So violent."

I was almost surprised that it was Zuko's voice, but a some of me wasn't. It seemed like he would always follow me, no matter where I went.

"Did you know, Zuko, that you are about to die?"

"Who was that boy?"

I pulled the water out of the tree in which he was perched, drying it out to brittle splinters so that it collapsed. He jumped clear, doing a neat dive roll and standing tall.

"Why do you care?" I asked, keeping the water surrounding my hands, ready to strike.

"Ever thought that maybe I liked you? And that I'm jealous?"

I drew in a sharp breath. "You didn't. You were just playing me." I bended the water in a powerful stream, slamming him against a tree and then freezing him to it. Surprisingly, he didn't fight it.

"Are you so sure?"

I finally drew close enough to see his face. It looked very similar to when I had first met him; calm, unemotional, and a tad arrogant.

"Oh, I'm sure," I hissed. Drawing my knife, I strode up to the tree and pressed it against his throat. "And it's too bad for you that you thought I could be duped again."

I had forgotten for a moment that he was a firebender. I flinched as his warm hand came up to lightly grasp my throat, having escaped the ice. His golden eyes glinted from the half moon. "Don't you remember that you trust me?"

I felt the pad of his thumb brush over my pulse point.

"Why are you here?" I whispered hoarsely.

"Unfreeze me. And maybe I'll be able to justify myself to you."

I hesitated. My knife was against his throat, his hand resting on my neck. I stepped back and released him.

"Fine."

Zuko sat down in front of me in the grass. I slowly followed his lead.

"When I first joined you, I didn't have a sure goal. I had been stuck in the worst battlefront for a couple years, and the only way I could see of getting out was through capturing Aang or helping him end the war. So I played along-"

"So you did play me."

"I . . . no, not you."

I raised an eyebrow. Somehow he saw it through the dark, and leaned forward earnestly.

"I swear on my honor, Katara. I never meant to let things get that far."

"Sure." I released a breath I hadn't realized I was holding, but held the pain in as it simmered beneath the surface.

Zuko took a deep breath. "And then I realized I did have feelings for you, and things got more complicated. I was leaning more and more towards betraying my country and fighting for the other cause. But then Azula came."

"And she matters more to you than I do."

"Katara, all my life I have wanted my honor back, and-"

"Back from what?"

He bowed his head. "I was disgraced, which was when I received this scar. To become a traitor against my own country would mean that I had no honor."

"What about doing what was right?"

"That's why I'm here now, and why I helped you escape."

We sat in silence. The night was complete in its darkness, and the thought flashed through my mind that people would start to look for me.

"I can't decide if I believe you or not. So for now, you are my prisoner. Our story is that I came upon you while you were asleep, and captured you. I will make sure they don't kill you, and you will continue your work with Aang."

Zuko nodded. I untied my belt and gestured him to stand. I bound his hands tightly together, yanking hard enough to cut off circulation.

"Come on, prince. Let's get this over with."

* * *

**A/N: **No reviewers this time, except I do want to comment that I'm sorry these chapters are so short. It was a decision I made originally, and now I'm regretting it . . . anyway, hang in there with me, and this awkward conversation Zuko and Katara have . . .. no I don't like it. Maybe someday I'll rewrite it ^^


	15. Chapter 15

I watched through narrow eyes as Zuko walked across the encampment with Aang in tow. He had informed the camp that Azula would arrive in two weeks.

"So . . ."

I didn't turn at the sound of Toph's voice. "Yes?"

"He's back."

"It would appear so."

"Should we trust him?" Toph asked quietly.

"No!" I said vehemently, "he betrayed us. We can't ever trust him again."

"Okay, Katara."

I looked down at the girl at my side. Toph trusted me implicitly, as I did her. Out of impulse I wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Look who's getting touchy-feely," Toph laughed. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Zuko turn with a slight smile on his face. I scowled at him, and he immediately turned back to his work with Aang. I crossed my arms. He then turned to the two of us again.

"Toph, will you come help me work with Aang?" he called.

"Sure." Toph gave me the customary punch in the shoulder and I sighed.

"Be careful," I called after her.

"You know, Toph always is." Sokka came up beside me. We stood in silence for a moment. "Dad's worried about you."

In an instant all of my worst feelings boiled up inside of me. "Sure he is."

"Because of Zuko."

"Good for him."

"Katara, you should really work things out with him." Sokka started to raise his hand to my shoulder, but lowered it awkwardly instead.

"Who, Zuko or Chief Hakoda?"

Sokka winced. "Maybe both?"

I whirled on him. "You trust Zuko?"

"No!" Sokka grabbed my shoulders. "He hurt you, and I won't forgive him for that. But he seems to be really trying this time."

"Just like last time," I hissed under my breath.

"I hate seeing you like this," Sokka said, a strength behind his voice that I had never heard before, "and if you keep letting this hate eat at you, you'll turn into a stranger. Don't make me lose my sister."

He started walking away, but I ran after him, tears streaming down my cheeks.

"Sokka."

He took one look at me, and then folded me into his arms. "Come here, Kat."

His hand rubbed my back comfortingly. The thought came to me that Hakoda should be doing this. "I'm so lost," I whispered.

"Hey," Sokka grinned, "who's the one who never gets lost? Me, remember?"

I laughed shakily. I realized too late that Zuko had been watching us and turned, meeting his sharp gold eyes with my wet blue ones. "What is it?"

His expression was unreadable. "Can I talk to you?"

Sokka pushed me forward. "I'll see you at dinner."

"Yeah."

Zuko turned without saying anything and I followed silently. We were some distance from camp when he turned.

"Katara, do you know who killed your mother?"

I was caught by surprise and actually stumbled. Zuko reached a hand out and kept me from falling. I gripped his arm tightly and stared him in the eye. "Why?" I bit out.

"Before I left my sister, there was intel that one of our old officers, a man called Yon Rha, was coming out of retirement. He performed multiple raids upon the Southern Water Tribe."

"I only ever saw a glimpse of him through his helmet," I said. Zuko's hand was still on my elbow, and I tried to stop myself from trembling too much. Despite my efforts, he seemed to feel me shaking and ran his hand up my uncovered arm in an awkward, but soothing manner.

"I know where he'll be for the next week."

I made a snap decision. "Let's do it. Azula won't be here for two weeks you said?"

"Yes."

"If Aang would let us borrow Appa . . ."

"I'll go ask him."

I reached out and grabbed his forearm. "Zuko, I swear, if you are tricking me, you are dead." He nodded and tried to move away, but I held him fast. "And thank you for telling me."

The surprise on his face would have made me laugh at a different time, but with revenge burning its way through me, all I could focus on was the memory of my mother's face, and her murderer's eye.

* * *

We left the next night, and while I left a note for Sokka, I didn't talk to him, because I was afraid he would stop me. Sokka had been gone when my mother had died, and it was different for him. I had to do this.

Both Zuko and I were dressed in black, clothes tight to avoid making noise and boots covered in a thin layer of cloth to muffle our footsteps. Appa groaned as we climbed onto his back, and Aang peered out of the darkness at us.

"Be careful," he whispered.

"Thanks, Aang."

"Appa, yip yip!" Zuko cried out hoarsely, flicking the reins.

We sped away, the chill of the night lost on me as I burned with anger that I had long held dormant.

I saw Zuko try to shout something back, but the wind whipped away his voice. Crawling over the saddle, I reached the front and slid down Appa's fur to reach Zuko who was kneeling on his head.

"What is it?" I said into his ear.

"It should be a couple hours before we find the patrol ship. You should try to sleep."

"I can't sleep. Not now."

Zuko threw me a quick look. "Want to talk about it?"

I did, but how could I talk to him, after all he had done to me? I sighed, wrapping my arms around my knees.

"I was ten. Raids were normal, and at that time Chief Hakoda was still in the South while others headed the war effort. Sokka was gone, training with others. I was in our igloo, with my mom when he came and . . . and killed her."

"In front of you?" Zuko's voice was a whisper.

I bit my lip. "My mother hid me in a closet. I saw everything." I refused to look at him until I felt his arm around my shoulders. My eyes flashed as I turned to him. "Don't think that because I'm telling you this it makes everything . . . back to normal."

"I know it doesn't," he said, but his arm didn't move. I let it stay, burying my face in my arms as the cold wind continued to sweep over us.

* * *

I woke up and realized I had been asleep and leaning on Zuko for at least an hour.

"I'm sorry," I grunted, pulling myself into a sitting position by using Appa's fur. "Are we almost there?" I caught a glimpse of his face and saw he was blushing. My immediate response was to blush as well, for no apparent reason.

"Yeah." His arm slowly withdrew from my shoulder. "Are you ready?"

I nodded. We were near the target ship, and I told Zuko to get Appa right over the water. I got a handhold on one of his horns and leaned away from Appa's head.

"I've got it from here. Wait for me for one hour."

Zuko looked unhappy but did what I asked, pulling Appa into a sharp turn at the precise moment I needed him to. I jumped, drawing enough water up to me to muffle my splash, using the quiet breaststroke to swim the rest of the way to the ship.

I found the customary grooves that sufficed for a ladder running up the ship. My cold fingers grasped the slimy metal weakly and I decided to waterbend instead, drawing myself up in a column of water and reaching the deck.

"Gaahhh!"

The shriek almost sent me falling back into the waves in surprise, but I managed to keep my balance on the railing. The soldier was staring at me, trembling as if he had seen a ghost. I sent a powerful blast at him, sending him overboard. The ship was alerted, and I was forced to hide as crew members poured out onto the deck.

"What was it?"

They found the man overboard and got him on deck. Thankfully, he was unconscious, and unable to betray my presence. I waited for ten minutes for the crew to leave. Creeping out from behind the crates, my stiffened limbs made it difficult to move silently. As I tiptoed through the ship, I found myself overwhelmed by the many halls, and was forced to the conclusion that I would have to get someone to talk. I hid myself in a side room, waiting for a victim. The first soldier that came along was a large, burly man who was too alert for my comfort. I let him pass, and only had to wait half a minute before a smaller soldier went by.

I had my knife at his throat before he had time to blink. "Where is Yon Rha?" I hissed.

After some more convincing, he pointed down the hall, mumbling "last door". I ran off after throwing him into a closet. Once I reached the door, I hesitated.

"This is it," I whispered to myself nervously, wishing that I hadn't told Zuko to let me do this on my own. I bit down the feeling, kicking the door open and running in before I thought too much about it.

"Who is that?" There was an immediate reaction, fire blooming before my eyes and causing me to use half my water to block it. I finally found his blood, and stilled him.

"Hush," I whispered. "No need to fuss." I moved to where I was looming over him as he lay prone. I could feel the hate coursing through me, and lifted him up in front of me. "Do you know who I am?"

"No, I've never seen you in my life," Yon Rha whimpered. Hate was momentarily exchanged for disgust as I threw him back down on the bed.

"You killed my mother, because she said she was the last waterbender. But I'm the waterbender."

He was cringing, an old man who wasn't even listening to what I was saying. My hands itch to close into a fist, to stop his heart, to terminate this man's life for good. But I couldn't do it. It felt like a murder.

"Meet me tomorrow on the deck at sundown. We settle this by duel."

"Agni Kai?" he croaked.

I frowned. "Is that the Fire Nation term?"

He barely nodded.

"Don't be late," I hissed, and then slowed his heart down long enough to cause him to black out.

Somehow I found myself in the water, though I couldn't remember getting out of the ship. I drew myself up on a platform of ice and sped towards Appa's presence in the water. As I came up to them I saw Zuko leaning over the saddle, reaching for me.

"Katara," he whispered.

I rose on a wave with too much force and slammed into him, knocking him over and landing on him.

"Sorry." I made a move to get up, but found his arms holding me close.

"Did you do it?" He gently turned us over so that somehow he was cradling me in his arms.

"No." It wasn't the answer he was expecting. I shuddered and hid my face in his shoulder. "I challenged him to a duel."

"An Agni Kai?" Zuko practically yelped.

"I guess so. I couldn't murder him in cold blood. It was dishonorable," I mumbled.

"You're okay. Why are you shaking?"

"I don't know." That was when my tears started. I attempted to hide them, but my sobs eventually overcame me.

Zuko said nothing, only held me. As my trembling began to finally stop I noticed he was shaking.

"Zuko, what's wrong?"

His eyes were tightly shut. "An Agni Kai is only a duel with firebending. If we go back there, you'll have to fight without waterbending, and if you don't, they'll accuse you of cheating and all attack us at once."

"Oh," I said softly.

"Hey."

I reluctantly looked up at him. "What?"

"You're the best warrior I know. You will win."

"You don't have to lie to me, Zuko."

He shrugged. "If I'm not allowed to lie, will you allow me to hug you instead?"  
My laugh was shaky. "I guess."

"I don't want you to die," he said hoarsely as I pulled back.

"I don't want me to die either," I tried to laugh.

"Do you trust me?"

The question seemed out of nowhere, but was oddly appropriate. "Not really," I sighed. "You just make it so difficult."

He kissed the top of my head. "I'm stupid like that."

"We should get Appa out of the water. He'll get too cold."

Zuko nodded, and we made our way to the nearest land formation and I fell asleep even as the sun rose.

* * *

**A/N: **Reviewers this week, YumiKoO-O, irishgirl xx, BigTimeLive, rivkah, and Royce Keele, thank you! I'm afraid for those of you who wanted some Jet and Zuko jealousy, I can't work it this time around. In my first story it was there, but I just don't have room.

Anyway, here we get to go into the Southern Raiders, in this world! It was kinda a stretch, making an Agni Kai only for firebenders, thus she can't use her bending . . . but I needed to make it more dangerous somehow, and it could be a legit rule. I suppose.

And as to Katara being too trusting . . . yeah, it's kinda quick. Let's explain it as her trusting because Zuko let her out of prison.


	16. Chapter 16

The day passed slowly. I trained, meditated, and then trained again. If it was possible, Zuko seemed more nervous than I. The sun began to set.

"I have to go." I stepped into the surf.

"I'm going with you." His hand on my arm stopped me.

"You can't," I said quietly, "if I die, I need someone to tell Sokka that I died with honor."

He pulled me to him violently, clutching at me.

"I'm sorry, Zuko, but you won't change my mind," I said after pulling back. "In an hour, if I'm not back, fly Appa over and see if there's anything left of me."

I ripped myself away from his grasp and leapt into the waves, speeding away towards the stationary Fire Nation vessel. Nighttime, my time of strength, drew near, though I wished it was a full moon. Yue was above me, watching. I flaunted my skill a little as I pulled myself up to the deck on a strand of ocean water, flipping at the apex and landing on the deck.

The edges of the boat were lined with soldiers. Yon Rha stood in the middle, waiting for me.

"You tricked me," I said loudly, but calmly.

"Did you just figure that out?" Yon Rha spitefully returned. "Any sign of waterbending and you will be killed."

I bent my head. "Understood."

The slow beat of drums filled the air. I flexed, bouncing on the balls of my feet to be ready for his first strike. It came with less force than I expected, a small blast that I easily dodged. He seemed enraged at my evasion and followed it with another blast, which was still weak in my eyes. Even so, I pretended it was more difficult to avoid. Either he was toying with me on purpose, or my experiences with Azula and Zuko had accustomed me to stronger benders.

I sprinted towards him, twisting to avoid another blast. Once I was within five feet I leapt high, coming in at him from above with a downward strike. My fist glanced his shoulder and he yelled angrily, following it up with a line of fire that I had to lean backwards to avoid. I reached back with my hands, feeling like an acrobat and used them to go into a handstand and then twist down and sweep, knocking him off his feet.

Just as I was about to pull out my knife and deliver the fatal blow, he shouted out. The surrounding soldiers jumped me, yanking me away from him.

"No interference!" I shrieked, struggling against them.

"You were cheating, using your witch powers to defeat me."

"No, I wasn't!"

He paid no attention, filling his hand with flames. "For that, you shall be executed."

My eyes widened, and then narrowed. "Guess that now I'll have to break the rules for real." I slammed my fists into the crotches of the two holding me on the sides, and then pushed off backwards into the one behind me. It wasn't enough, and I found out the hard way that he was a firebender as flames coated my back.

Screaming, I ripped away, going straight for Yon Rha. He backed up like the coward he was, but wasn't fast enough to evade my knife. His body crumpled to the ground, and I realized belatedly that I was surrounded. They prepared to strike and I dipped into the last reserves of my strength, stopping all of them with bloodbending. Even as I did, darkness crept in on my vision.

"Katara!"

I lost my grip on the soldiers and fell to the deck on my hands and knees. I vaguely felt myself being lifted, and the bright light of fire causing me to squint.

The distinctive smell of Appa filled my nose, and then I was placed on my damaged back. The pain made the darkness complete.

* * *

"Wake up. Please."

"Zuko?"

His worried face hovered above me. "You need to heal."

". . . can't," I murmured, the darkness already threatening to take me again.

"You'll be scarred, and I can't let you . . ."

I could still hear him, but I was lost in a gray area, and couldn't answer. He eventually gave up, and I could feel his rough fingers stroking my cheek.

Time passed slowly. I was finally able to completely wake up.

"Zuko, how close are we to base?"

"Half an hour or so," he replied.

"Right." I gripped the edge of the saddle and slowly pulled myself upright, fiery pain shooting through my back.

"Easy, Katara." Zuko looked back from his seat at Appa's head. "You're really hurt."

"No, really? I didn't know that," I muttered sarcastically. I paused, carefully turning my head to look at Zuko. "Thank you, Zuko. I . . . I think I believe you now."

"About what?" His eyes were desperate.

"What you told me, how you didn't mean to play me. I just . . ." I couldn't hold his gaze and stared out over the horizon. "I didn't want to get hurt."

I barely heard Zuko murmur, "I'm so sorry."

The rest of the trip I spent in an awkward kneeling position, unable to move because of the pain in my back. Unfortunately we arrived at camp by midday, and everyone was watching our landing.

"Katara! You're okay!"

I couldn't respond as I was gritting my teeth from the pain.

"Come on." Zuko pried my fingers loose from the saddle and gingerly pulled me onto his back, carrying me down Appa's tail.

"What happened." Sokka stood with his arms crossed, but unbent as soon as I was on the ground, running forward and pulling me off of Zuko.

I yelped, "watch it, Sokka!"

"Why haven't you healed yourself?" he said, looking at my back in horror.

"No time."

Toph was standing behind Sokka, the expression on her face hurt.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she whispered.

"I'm sorry, Toph."

"Katara, did you . . . ?" Sokka asked desperately. I stared into my brother's eyes.

"Yes."

Sokka exhaled.

"What's going on here?"

"I'll handle him," Sokka murmured. He turned, still supporting me to face our father.

"Katara has avenged our mother."

Hakoda's face was immobile. "Go heal yourself, Katara. Then we'll discuss your punishment."

"Her punishment! How can you say that, after what she's done?"

"Sokka," I whispered, "this is between me and him."

He was about to protest, but I shook my head. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jet approach from behind.

"Sokka, you talk to Chief Hakoda. I'll take Katara to the water supply."

"I can take her." Zuko had appeared in front of us. Jet flashed Zuko a quick look and then shrugged.

"If you'd like."

The water took away the intense pain but left a stiffness behind.

"Sure you can't do anything more?"

I looked up at Zuko. "Why, what's wrong?"

He kept his face turned away. "There's scars. Scars like handprints."

I shrugged. "So what? Lots of people have scars. You should have seen Bato. Practically his whole arm was scarred."

"You got it in an Agni Kai."

I stood and stared at him. "Spit it out already, what is going on?"

He took me by surprise, grabbing me around the waist pulling me to him desperately. I pushed back at his shoulders, gasping at the pain of his hands on my back.

"Wha-?"

"It's how I got my scar," Zuko mumbled.

"What is?"

"An Agni Kai, against my father."

"Oh, Zuko." I slowly leaned back into him, hugging him gently. "I'll talk to you later about this." I pulled away and began walking back towards camp.

"What?"

"I've got a fight with my father."

* * *

**A/N:** Aaliyah92, YumiKoO-O, irishgirl xx, thank you for the reviews!

Sorry this is such a short chapter, but I'm falling a bit behind, what with schoolwork and all. Anyway, hope you like! :3

Next chapter is taking me FOREVER to write. Ugh, so much nastiness between Katara and her dad . . . it's tough to write. I'll do my best, but don't look forward to much


	17. Chapter 17

We had an audience. Sokka had refused to let us go inside the tent, so instead we stood slightly apart from everyone else. I could tell most of them wanted to leave, but Sokka's prowling kept anyone from moving at all.

"What are you going to do with me?" I asked clearly, keeping my gaze on my father only.

"You will be tried for treason in the Northern Water Tribe one month from now."

"You can't do that!" It hadn't taken Sokka long to intervene. He marched up in front of Chief Hakoda, and part of me noticed that they were the same height.

"I have every right. Katara has been deliberately disobeying orders and disappearing without anyone on our side being able to tell of her location, except for a Fire Nation prince. I have no choice but to send her for trial or exert my authority and banish her now."

"All of her actions have been towards our effort! There has been physical evidence, by the destruction of the factory, and I bet if you intercept a Fire Nation hawk you'll find news that the man who killed your wife is dead. But you won't even see that!" Sokka spat at him.

"Sokka," I whispered.

"No, Katara! I won't let you take the blame for something you haven't done. I challenge you to a duel!" he shouted at Hakoda.

"No!" I shrieked. My brother wasn't responding to me, as he had a stare down with Chief Hakoda, so I swung him around, clutching at him. "Don't make me lose you."

"I can win, Katara." He gently pried me away. "It's time we got everything out in the open. He's been hating you since mom died, and he should have taken care of you. Now he's going to get his rightful punishment."

"Guys?" Aang came up. I blinked. I had nearly forgotten about the Avatar.

"What is it, Aang?"

"This is a bad idea," the airbender said bluntly, "we're fighting a war, and you'll only split the troops."

"Aang's right, Sokka."

Sokka turned to Hakoda, who had been listening the whole time. "Well, if you don't want to divide the troops, _Dad_, then you better apologize to Katara."

They looked so similar, yet so different.

I slowly moved between them, facing my father and latching onto Sokka's arm as I passed him. "Everyone else leave."

Aang regretfully pulled away, and a couple yards behind Chief Hakoda I could see Toph resolutely standing, refusing to completely leave. I had lost sight of Zuko.

"Have something you want to say?" Hakoda said stiffly.

"What did I ever do to you?" I whispered.

Sokka gently pried my hand loose and his arm encircled my waist so that we were both facing my father.

"You're the reason she's dead," Chief Hakoda hissed. "You should be dead."

"Now, we get to it," I smiled," so would you like me to die? Next raid, I could die, if you want."

"This is ridiculous," Sokka snarled. "How can you blame her?"

Hakoda's eyes were narrowed, pupils tiny. "Kya should never have died. We knew that the Fire Nation would come for waterbenders, and you should have died, and we couldn't stop it. But she just had to try and save you."

"I'm your daughter," I cried out, "there has to be something else, because I didn't kill her."

"You killed her." Hakoda's voice was filled with so much rage. I began backing away.

"I hate you." My voice was choked. I stumbled away from Sokka blindly, ignoring his attempt to grab at my arm. When I opened my tear-filled eyes I saw Zuko headed my direction, but Toph got to me first.

"Come on, Katara."

I let her lead me. She took me to our old tent, and even as I crawled inside, tears began streaming down my face. Toph didn't say a word, just pushed me down onto her cot and then pulled me close, careful to avoid touching my back.

"Toph, what do I do?" I whimpered, hating the youth in my voice.

"Keep fighting, Katara. Just keep fighting."

* * *

"How is your back feeling this morning?"

"Fine."

"That's good."

"Yeah."

Zuko rubbed the back of his neck. "Can we talk?"

I continued to run the whetting stone across my blade. "Isn't that we we're doing?"

"Katara, you know what I mean."

"Zuko, this is a bad time right now, we're in a war. I can't worry about . . . you."

His hand shot out, grabbing my wrist as it gripped the stone. "I meant what I said. I am so sorry for what I did to you."

I gently pulled my hand away. "I do forgive you."

"But?" he insisted.

"It can't be the same as it was, Zuko. We're in a war. I'm a soldier, you're a prince. And that's the end of it."

"But you trust me?"

I couldn't help the laugh that escaped my mouth, the pain not quite hidden behind it. "I guess I do. After everything, I should kill you. I want to. But you . . ." I became serious. "You are dangerous."

* * *

They should have attacked. It had been almost a week since the last raid, and the whole camp was on edge, waiting for the Fire Nation.

All free time was spent making new weapons, training, and preparing. Aang was getting better at firebending. He had daily sessions with both Toph and myself, training him to take down the Fire Lord.

"One more round," I called, shifting my weight to the balls of my feet, "Only waterbending, Aang. No more puffs of wind that just happen to blow my water off target."

The Avatar grinned sheepishly. He waited for my strike, taking the defensive as he often did.

"Offense, Aang!"

"Right." He ran forward, drawing up from his supply of water and attacking with a quick waterwhip. I easily dodged, and as the next one came sweeping through I blocked it with a quick attack of my own.

"Best you can do?" I taunted. He responded with a flurry of ice daggers, but as they flew through the air I put my own control onto them. They hovered, pushed between the two of us. I used the rest of my water in a different group of icy spikes, but he also stopped them. I waited. Normally I would've drawn the water from the grass under his feet to slice the inside of his calves and thighs, but he had to learn.

"It's your move, Aang."

He only concentrated further, trying to take control of the ice away from me. I sighed, pulling up the water from the grass and knocking him over.

"You've got to think outside the box, Aang. And forget your worries about hurting the plants."

The boy used airbending to stand. "Yeah, sorry about that."

A horn blew.

"Raid," I whispered.

* * *

**A/N:** Ew, I did not like writing these scenes. Yuck. I really wanted to have some kind of reconciliation with Hakoda and Katara, but all this angry stuff kept coming out. Dunno why . . . I have a really great relationship with my dad, so it's not that. Annnyway . . .

Thank you for the support, YumiKoO-O and F1nal Front1er. You guys have stuck with this, and it makes me so happy :)

I'm afraid that it'll be probably a week before I can update again. The first round of exams is now coming up, so I have to study D: Hang in there though. We'll get some good fighting in next time :)


	18. Chapter 18

The whole camp was in an uproar, a flurry of movement. The signal had come late, the Fire Nation was already halfway up the mountain.

"Aang, only use the Avatar state in emergency!" I shouted as I strapped on my armor, even as I jogged to the my post.

"Got it, Katara!" He whizzed past me on his glider. I winced as I saw how exposed he was. He still refused to wear armor.

"This is the big one, Katara, are you ready?" Sokka came up behind me.

"I think so. You going with Toph?"

"Yeah, and you. We're going to gang up on them and take them all out," Toph said as she passed us. "Let's go get some firebenders!"

I snatched up a spear, checked my dagger and my waterskins, and then followed her, screaming out a war cry. The forest wasn't as thick as I remembered it, and running through it was a lot easier. Unfortunately, that also meant there was less of a water supply for me in the wood. We only got a third of the way down the mountain before there they were, marching in straight lines, their numbers terrifying.

"Come on, then!" I roared, pulling all the water I had from around me and sending it in a razor sharp edge, about neck height. I killed most of the frontline, except for those who were smart enough to duck. Toph did her work next, splitting the ground open underneath the Fire Nation soldiers. They fell, screaming, into the earth, their deaths marked by nasty crunching noises.

Then we rushed in, working on close-up attacks. We were soon separated. After I skewered a man on my spear, I was forced to leave it behind as a soldier attacked, sword coming dangerously close to taking my head off. That was when I saw it. A red cloth, wrapped around his upper shoulder.

"You're Ishi!" The movement of his sword ceased.

"How do you know who I am?" he asked suspiciously, pointing his sword at me. He was a short man, powerfully built with a small moustache. I couldn't help liking him. The sounds of battle raged around us, but we were alone at that moment, separated by the trees.

"Your wife."

"What did you do to her?!" he snarled.

"Nothing. She helped me, and in return I promised I wouldn't kill you."

"And why would you beat me in the first place?"

"That's irrelevant. I won't fight you." Another soldier rushed me from outside the trees and I sidestepped, whipping out my dagger and stabbing him quickly. I turned back to Ishi.

He stared at me, and then sighed. "Go on. But . . . wait, how is my son?"

I winced. "How was he when you saw him last?"

"Fine."

"He's missing a leg."

Ishi bowed his head. "Thank you for telling me."

I went into a formal bow.

"Katara!" Zuko's voice startled me, and I half-turned. "Get out of the way!"

"No!"

He was running towards Ishi, Dao swords alight with fire. It was too late for him to listen to me, so I intersected him as he approached Ishi, slamming into his side. One of the swords glanced against my shoulder guards, barely missing my neck.

"Katara, what do you think you're doing?"

I glanced up from our sprawled position. Ishi was gone. "Don't worry about it, Zuko. Get back to the fight."

He helped me up and pointed at me demandingly. "I better get an explanation."

"You will, you will." I ran off, searching for Toph and Sokka.

Most of the soldiers were scattered. I could hear the center of the trouble, and knew that the fighting had gone to the plain. My legs were burning by the time I reached the fight. I had to pause for a second to catch my breath at the edge of the forest, the blood and gore in front of me.

I managed to catch a glimpse of Sokka and Toph fighting back to back, surrounded by soldiers. Aang kept leaping high until he would then plummet back to earth, landing with a violent earthbending or firebending move. Just as I was about to join the fight, I noticed Azula, standing still, simply watching. She wasn't even fighting.

"Why is it you!?"

I whirled around, finding Ishi scowling at me. He ran off in the opposite direction, and I refocused, plunging into the fight. I killed one, two, and then five soldiers before I reached my brother, Aang, and Toph.

"There you are!" I shouted over to them, past the firebender we were fighting. I dodged one blast of fire and sent a fatal ice dart in response.

"Took you long enough to get here," Aang grinned at me.

"There hasn't been a retreat, are we fighting this one out to the end?" I asked as Sokka jumped close.

"Apparently. I don't know . . . but Azula is just sitting there. Want to take her on?"

"Let's do it."

We began to work our way over to the edge, where she was. Before we got there, I saw Ishi in front of us. A second later, and I saw behind Chief Hakoda behind him, arm raised and club high.

I didn't know what I was doing, but I inadvertently yelled, causing Hakoda to pause, allowing Ishi to spring away at the last second.

I saw the hate in my father's eyes once more before he was caught in a terrible, white-blue blast of fire.

Sokka's scream of rage filled the air, but was superseded by Azula's high laugh. He rushed her, sword in one hand, boomerang in the other. She didn't even bother to firebend, knocking his sword away with a sweeping kick and twisting around with a back kick that sent him sprawling.

He threw his boomerang but it missed. I could only hope it would hit her on the way back down, but instead it took out a different Fire Nation soldier. Sokka knelt over our father, and I could see Hakoda's lips moving. I barely felt his heartbeat through his blood and knew what Sokka discovered a couple seconds later. Azula had killed him.

I didn't have time to analyze my feelings before she was among us, striking out. I barely managed to avoid having a face full of flames before Azula had turned on Toph and nearly kicked her in the head. Toph was thrown off balance, which I had never seen before. Aang floated on his air ball, dodging fire and attempting small attacks at random.

Pulling water from the ground, I surprised her with an attack on her side, pushing her over, but she twisted into a neat roll, coming up and nailing one of our soldiers with an uppercut before turning back to us.

"To be honest, I'm a little disappointed," she smirked, "and where can dear Zuzu be? Oh, has he changed sides again?"

"No, he's busy defeating your pathetic army," I snarled. I flicked out my dagger, drawing her eyes with the flash of the sun on the blade and then using my other hand to slice water across her arm. It only barely cut through her thick armor.

"Clever girl, you are." Azula dodged a boulder from Toph, sending a wave of flames almost as an afterthought. The blind earthbender managed to block them with a wall of earth, and an overwhelming feeling of fear swept over me. Azula could kill her, just as she had killed Hakoda. I now noticed Sokka finally standing, rage in his face.

"Sokka, sound the retreat, it's been too long!"

He didn't listen, gripping his sword and shouting, darting towards Azula yet again.

This time she used fire. Thankfully Sokka's armor was thick, but he was still thrown backwards.

"Attack now!" he bellowed, drawing our soldiers towards him and building up a front. The Fire Nation soldiers began to panic, attempting to form a semblance of a line, but they had no leader, as Azula was kept busy by Toph. I leapt over to help her, pulling enough water out of the ground to make several arms around me.

I had never been in such a fight, and even as I took out several more soldiers, I realized that this was not going to be an ordinary raid. Either they all died, or we did.

* * *

**A/N:** Wow I'm mean to Hakoda, huh? Anyway, glad we got back into some action here, though I'm having trouble working out how on earth I'm going to finish this fic! Since both the Day of Black Sun and Sozin's Comet were in the past by this fic's timeline, I have to come up with something else. Any ideas for me? :)

Thanks Royce Keele for the nice review!

and F1nal Front1er, that's an interesting theory, I hadn't thought about including Hakoda wanting a son . . . but I think this would come closer to he didn't want a bender maybe? It's up to you!

and Led Feynman M.D . . . um, okay? I never saw Mai killing people at the Boiling Rock though . . . Not sure what that has to do with this fanfic, but whatever . . .


	19. Chapter 19

"Gah!"

I spared Aang a quick glance. He was earthbending a boulder towards a soldier. I could see him tense as it hit, killing the man.

I gathered the little that I had left of my water. I kept my attacks as fluid as possible, trying to preserve what little strength I had left.

But we were winning. I couldn't believe it, but we were slowly defeating the Fire Nation. The only problem was Azula. At least ten soldiers at a time were trying to attack her, but failing. She was outnumbered though, and they were pressing her further and further back.

"Azula!"

My head shot up at the voice. It was Zuko.

"Dear Zuzu, you finally decide to join us." Azula pushed a quick wave of fire at our soldiers, forcing them to fall back.

"You're done here, Azula. Go on back to Daddy now," Zuko spat. He strode through the scattered ranks, even brushing past Toph.

"Oh, I'm just starting," Azula hissed. Before I knew it, they were fighting, blue flames colliding with red. Everyone frantically scrambled away to avoid being caught in the cross fire. I shook my head, concentrating on finishing off the remnants of the Fire Nation army.

A fight with a firebender forced me to draw him into the woods so I could replenish my water store with the trees. I managed to dodge most of his attacks and preserve my water for offense. I couldn't take too long doing it though; I was tired. A few shards of ice later, and his body lay at my feet.

I was trembling.

"This has gone on long enough."

I whirled, finding Ishi leaning against a tree, some kind of wound in his side dripping blood.

"Are you dying?" I asked quickly. Instinctively I pulled water to my hands, the glow appearing without me even realizing.

"No. Just a flesh wound, nothing to worry about."

I stared at him. "Why are you still standing here?"

"We can't keep doing this. You can't kill me, and I don't want to kill you."

I sighed. "I just want you to see your boy again."

"So do I. So cut off my leg," Ishi declared.

I didn't expect that. "What?"

"You injure me, I go home. That's part of being a soldier."

"But no leg means . . ."

". . . that my son will not be alone in his pain."

I could only gape at him. "Why not something a little less drastic?"

"If you won't do it, I will," Ishi said firmly. He pulled out a sword, swinging it expertly. I could only watch as he twirled it, and then brought it down in a terrible blow, cutting his leg off at the knee. He collapsed and I ran to him, stopping the blood with my healing.

"You are stupid. But your son should be proud of you," I muttered, even though he was already unconscious. I left him there regretfully.

"Katara!"

"Toph, you're all right."  
"You better get over here. We've taken out all Fire Nation, except for the princess," she panted.

"Ah, great." We rushed off together, back into the main clearing. The amount of bodies was staggering, but even more shocking was the fight between Zuko and his sister. They were still at blows, the amount of fire forcing everyone else to stay back for fear of getting burned.

I got close enough to hear the labored breathing of Zuko.

"What, no lightning today?" Zuko snarled at Azula.

"I'll show you lightning!" The bolt went straight for Zuko, but instead of dodging as I expected, he stretched out an arm, drawing the lightning in and then throwing it out the other arm. Azula stumbled back, and then fell. Immediately she was swarmed, our soldiers taking her and efficiently tying her up.

She stood with grace. Part of me wished we could kill her on the spot, but that had no honor.

Sokka stood tall. "Soldiers! Gather the wounded first, take them back to camp. Then gather the bodies. They will be buried with dignity."

"They must be burned," Azula said softly, but clearly.

Sokka spared her a quick glance. "Very well."

It was over. We had won the battle. But somehow I felt worse than I ever had before.

* * *

I made sure Ishi was taken care of and sent away with all the other wounded Fire Nation soldiers. I helped bury the dead. Before long, it was too much and I wandered away to a quiet part of the mountain and stood, staring at the horizon. I could just hear the sounds of celebration from where I was.

"Katara, what are you doing here? We need you healing."

I started, looking up at my brother in shock. "Oh, yes, well." I stood hurriedly. "I was just . . . just . . ."

"Get to work, Katara."

He had never been that cold with me before, and there was a hollow feeling in my stomach.

"Sokka, I'm sorry."

He stopped. "For what?"

"For . . . everything."

"I'll need something a little more specific than that."

Was that hate, under his voice? I swallowed. "I'm sorry I killed him."

Then he spun to face me. "You planned this, didn't you? I always knew you hated him, I just never thought you'd actually kill him. I thought I knew you, you're my sister. But I guess I don't."

He left before I could say anything. I knelt, the sunset behind me, shadow lengthening. I was all alone.

Night came. The darkness was eating me away.

* * *

"What are you doing?"

I had hoped the voice would be Sokka's. It was Zuko's.

"I'm dying."

The alarm was immediate. "What? Quick then, heal yourself."

My laugh was bitter. "My heart's already dead. My soul is following it."

Zuko came up beside me and knelt. "Didn't think you were one for the philosophical."

"It's a philosophical kind of night."

He shook his head at me. "Really, what's wrong?"

I choked back a sob. "Do you know what the last words I said to my father were? 'I hate you.' That's what I said to him. Last words I said to my mother were, 'Don't leave me.' What if I had switched them? Maybe then my mother wouldn't have died for me, and maybe then my father would have understood how he hurt me." I fell silent, unwilling to let anything else slip away from me.

Zuko didn't say anything, just scooted a little closer. I felt his warm hand slip over my own cold one.

"Who was that man?"

"What man?" I asked dully.

"The Fire Nation soldier with the red cloth."

"Ishi."

"You know him?"

"His wife helped me while I pretended to be the Painted Lady."

Zuko's hand briefly gripped my own before relaxing. "Katara, I'm so sorry for betraying you."

"The whole world's sorry, and it's too late. It's half-destroyed, and the rest is following," I whispered.

"If anyone can end the war, it's you."

It didn't make sense for him to say that, and I looked at him sharply. "What are you talking about?"

"We won today. We have the Avatar. We can do this."

"Who are you and what have you done to Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation," I murmured.

He grinned at me. "Call it a leap of faith. But you are the most amazing girl I have ever had the pleasure of fighting, and I think we should get working on an invasion plan."

"You're crazy."

"You bet."

I sighed, pushing myself to my feet. "All right. But this better not turn out to be the Day of Black Sun all over again."

"How 'bout the Day of the Moon?" Zuko suggested. I flashed him another look.

"Seriously, have you been drinking?"

"No!" he denied, throwing up his hands. Then he considered. "Maybe."

I groaned. "Let's go."

Zuko actually started humming a song. I gave him a look.

"What have they done with your sister?"

He stopped humming. His eyes locked onto mine, and he seemed to sober up.

"I don't know. But her being here . . . it's not good. She could be up to something."

"Thought so," I murmured.

* * *

**A/N:** This is getting tough to write. Crazy stuff going down. Sorry it's taking me so long :( School's getting in the way SO MUCH. Thank you F1nal Front1er and Kiren for the reviews! They keep me going, however slow it is :)


	20. Chapter 20

It took quite some time before I was able to get Zuko to leave me. When he was sober, it was hard enough to figure him out, but drunk, he was even more confusing.

Once that was over though, I knew what I had to do.

"Sokka."

"Go away."

"We need to talk."

"No, we really don't. Because I might say something I regret." Sokka still wouldn't look at me.

"I didn't kill him."

"You warned a Fire Nation soldier that he was attacking. I should have you executed for being a traitor."

"I made a mistake."

"A mistake?" Sokka stood, and glared at me. "Why did you yell?"

"I . . . knew that man. His family, they saved me."

"And that was worth our father's life," he spat.

"No. I told you, I didn't mean to. I just reacted . . ."

"Whatever." Sokka turned back to his maps.

I couldn't stop myself from shuddering. Whenever I had hit rock bottom, I had always had Sokka. Now, I had no one. "Sokka . . ." I murmured, my voice breaking. I sank to the ground. "I can't do this anymore. I can't."

He was standing over me.

"You're so difficult, you know? Little sisters are way too much trouble," he said in a half-joking tone, half-comforting.

I sobbed, and his arms were around me.

"I know you didn't mean to," he murmured.

I clung to him, feeling for all the world that I was back in the igloo, staring at the charred form of our mother. Only he hadn't been there.

"Don't shut me out, Katara. If we're going to get through this war, we're doing this together, okay?"

"Yes, sir."

Sokka smiled at that. "Now, let's go win us a war!"

I took his hand as I stood. "The Fire Nation is going down!" I proclaimed grandly, wiping away the last of my tears. We stepped out of the tent, into the brightness of dawn. Around the camp I could hear groans as the soldiers lay in their post-celebratory stupors.

"I'll go heal. War meeting later?" I asked.

Sokka nodded. "This is going to be a big one. We'll talk it over, but chances are high we will finally be able to retreat into Omashu."

I smiled widely. "Three years, camped outside, and we've never gone in."

Sokka frowned. "The remaining inhabitants have been sending us food all this time. Hopefully that's a sign that they aren't in any dire straits."

"Why didn't you fight from within Omashu?"

Both of us whirled to find Zuko, apparently sober, watching us.

"Omashu is relatively safe from attack. But this mountain, close as it is, is a key point where the Fire Nation could set up catapults and destroy the city without any possibility of retaliation. So we fought from here."

Zuko grimaced. "That sounds too easy. Especially since Azula probably could have come up with a better solution to take over the city."

"Well, neither side has had a choice," Sokka explained tiredly, "resources are thin enough as it is. From what we can tell, it's the same situation for the Fire Nation."

"Not anymore," I nudged Sokka, offering him a small smile. He straightened a little, shooting me a grateful glance.

Zuko still looked uncomfortable. "Something's wrong."

"It can wait," Sokka said shortly. "Now, let's get to work."

* * *

I didn't wait long until I visited Azula. If I was being honest to myself, I was surprised she hadn't escaped, despite all of the precautions. The chains were supposedly fireproof, but they had never been tested by Azula.

"Hello, peasant."

I didn't respond, and didn't get any closer. She was chained to a rock wall created by Toph, half of her body also encased in rock, but I didn't want to risk anything.

"Here to gloat?"

"Here to wonder."

Azula cocked her head. "Curious, are we?"

"Oh yes."

"So what, you're here to make me spill my nefarious plans? Not happening." She was so smug. I felt like punching her in the face.

Outwardly, I tried to appear calm. "I have the feeling you could escape easily, but you aren't. Why?"

Her eyes danced, the gold in them reminding me of Zuko, but the expression didn't match. "I want to watch you all burn."

"How will you do that? Your army is defeated."

She smirked. "You think that's an army? Child."

I had heard enough, and left the make-shift stone prison. I sought out Zuko.

"Don't lie to me. How large is the Fire Nation army?"

His shoulders slumped, his scar creasing as he shut his eyes. "Too large to imagine. We're hopelessly outnumbered."

"Why fight for the losing side?" I asked.

He offered me the ghost of a smile. "'Cuz you are. And because of my Uncle."

I waited expectantly.

"I can't . . . I'll tell you about him someday, but he kept me going. Saved me more times than I'd like to say, and died for me. He didn't believe in the war."

I hummed in appreciation. "Sounds like a good man."

"He was a great one." Zuko sank down to the grass. Around us, the camp was finally alive, the soldiers picking themselves up again, preparing to enter Omashu.

"We need a plan to take out the Fire Nation capitol," I said, voicing the thoughts I had always been considering throughout my time as a soldier.

"Yes. We do."

I sat down as well, considering the problem. My thoughts wandered, and regarded Zuko out of the corner of my eye. When had we become friends? Or were we even more? We were both so lost.

"What?"

He had noticed me staring. I blushed. "Nothing."

"You . . ."

"What?"

"Nothing."

We sat in tense silence until the call went out for a briefing. I sighed, refusing to look at Zuko. Whatever was between us would have to wait.

* * *

**A/N:** So. Much. Awkward. AHHHHH. Only had a review from "anonymous" . . . whoever you are, thanks for taking the time to review. Though it definitely made me feel very guilty as I made you wait forever for this chapter :( I'll keep trucking . . . I'm hoping that thanksgiving break and christmas break I will be able to make a big push and finish this fic. Hopefully. Anyway, stay strong! (does anyone get that? read my other story by any chance? probably not *sigh*)


	21. Chapter 21

Omashu was terribly silent. We marched through the streets, feeling more like a funeral procession than triumphant soldiers returning. The citizens were hiding in their houses. I caught sight of a pair of bright eyes from behind a door, but they disappeared.

"Katara, where are we going?" Aang sidled up beside me, his exaggerated whisper carrying.

"To see the King. King Bumi."

"No. You're joking."

"No, I'm not . . ." I gave Aang a weird look.

"I knew him," Aang murmured.

"How?"

"I don't know how he's still alive, but he has to be a hundred and fifteen years old. We were friends, when I was young."

"Whoa."

"Yeah."

Aang opened his glider and pushed off, leaving me in a cloud of dust. I coughed, and Toph giggled.

"Here, let me help." She waved her hand through the air, face scrunched up in concentration, until she found the particles of earth and pushed them down.

"Nice one." I gave the girl by my side a glance. "How are you doing, Toph?"

"To be perfectly honest? I just wish we could have one last final battle and be over with it."

I laughed hollowly. "So does everybody."

"Is there any chance? I mean, from the sound of it, the rest of the world's doing okay too."

"Okay isn't really enough, Toph. But really, we shouldn't talk about it, exposed like this," I cautioned.

"Yes, mom," Toph grinned.

I stuck my tongue out at her.

"I saw that."

"Liar. You didn't see anything."

"I felt that."

"What's wrong with you two?" Zuko asked incredulously.

I shrugged. "Post-battle de-stressification. You should try it some time."

He looked shocked. "After every battle?"

"Well, right after the battle, Katara goes into over-protective mode and tries to fix everybody, and cries about whoever died. But after that phase, we joke around. Makes it easier," Toph explained.

"I do not cry," I hissed.

"Do too."

"Do not."

Zuko gave us up as a bad cause and strode faster to catch up to Sokka. I grinned at Sokka's startled glance.

"You know, if Zuko had always been an ally, I bet he would've been really good friends with Sokka," Toph said thoughtfully.

"Maybe."

Toph tilted her head towards me. "Do you like him?"

"Who?" I knew exactly who she was talking about, but played dumb to give myself time to think. It wasn't exactly enough time.

"Zuko."

"I guess it depends on the day."

We dropped into silence until we reached King Bumi.

"Ooh, he's an earthbender," Toph whispered to me.

"Yeah?" I glanced around. Certainly was lavish, for war times.

"Probably too old to really fight, but from the way he moves . . ." Toph trailed off.

"You want his autograph?" I smirked.

She punched me in the arm.

We were all treated to a fancy dinner, entertained, given rock candy, for some strange reason. Aang talked with King Bumi the whole night. I hoped they were talking war strategy, but from the way they kept laughing, I knew they weren't. Zuko kept glancing at me. Sokka was getting drunk. Altogether, it was a situation I absolutely despised.

We were given fancy rooms. Fancy rooms that felt like cages.

As the others dropped off to sleep, I stayed wide awake. Restless. Itching for a fight.

Finally I stood, tiptoeing through the halls, sneaking past guards and making it outside. It was almost dawn. The night air was cool, and I pulled some water from it, drinking.

"That's a neat trick."

I closed my eyes. It would be him.

"Zuko, you are stalking me. I don't really like it."

"You say that, but do you mean it?" His voice was smooth, but somehow awkward at the same time, like he was trying to be seductive but failing miserably. I couldn't help laughing softly.

"What are we doing?"

"Talking," he said slowly, as if fearing for my sanity.

"No. You and me. This . . . thing we have. You're the prince of the Fire Nation, I'm a waterbender. How can anything come from this?" I stared out at the stars, unwilling to make eye contact.

"I don't know. To be honest, does it matter?" His hand nudged mine, and I laced my fingers with his.

"It might, someday."

"That's a good word, someday. Let's make it to there and find out," Zuko murmured.

I cast him a sidelong glance. "You don't think we'll survive."

His laugh was a short bark. "Do you?"

I considered it. "No."

"Well," he said softly, "then I guess I'll have to."

I tilted my head in a silent question.

"Someone has to be the optimist."

We stood in silence, Zuko keeping the cold away with a handful of flames. We stayed that way until dawn.

* * *

We entered the war room together. No one was laughing, or even smiling. We all knew what this was about.

The end of the war.

I didn't sit, even as Zuko did. He gave me a strange look.

I took a deep breath, the eyes of everyone, those I knew and strangers, on me. Sokka, Toph, Aang, Zuko. Even Jet. King Bumi was considering me carefully.

"I have an idea," I said softly.

"Katara, why don't you wait until . . ." Sokka began, but I gave him a look to shut him up.

"I am a bloodbender," I revealed to the silence. I didn't wait for the comments on this, but went on. "And I think I can kill the Fire Lord."

* * *

**A/N:** Guys, I am SO SORRY. I have been stuck FOREVER trying to come up with an ending . . . even now, it's not fleshed out, and I only have a vague idea about where this is going. Plus, I've been assaulted with fanfic ideas for Doctor Who, and since I've just recently watched that, it's so easy to write, vs this being a BEAR. UGH. I'll try and get the next chapter up in the near future, but no promises because exams are soon. BUT I PROMISE I WILL FINISH THIS SOMEDAY SOON. Personally, I hate it if people don't finish their fanfictions. I WILL. I WILL DO IT. If I can come up with a good ending soon, then I'll hesitantly say maybe it'll be done by Christmas. BUT NO PROMISES. DON'T KILL ME IF I DON'T. PLEASE. D8


	22. Chapter 22

To my surprise, there was no immediate outcry after I declared my intentions. I had just said I was going to kill the Fire Lord, and most of the people just looked at me. Contemplating. A tiny part of me felt pride that maybe, maybe some of them thought I could do it.

"Katara, are you serious?" Sokka asked softly. I considered him, wondering why he wasn't tearing apart my plan.

"It makes sense," King Bumi broke in. "And I'm someone who never makes sense."

Zuko lifted his hands in protest. "If it gets out that a waterbender killed Ozai, there could be serious consequences. The Water Tribes will want control, and . . ."

"Then we don't let it get out," I interrupted. "We have Aang lead an invasion force, I'll slip in and do the dirty work, and we say that he defeated him."

"That sounds almost too easy," Sokka muttered. As silence fell, I decided to sit again.

"What about Azula?" Aang asked softly. "We need to talk about what to do with her."

I noticed Zuko wince at her name.

"I have an idea," Sokka spoke up. He shifted, clearly uncomfortable with the whole deal. "It would also be a way to get Katara on the inside. What if . . ." his eyes cut over to me guiltily before returning to the tabletop. "Katara pretended to be a traitor, and Zuko and Azula brought her in. They could pretend to break Azula out, giving them credibility."

"Could you pull it off?" Jet asked practically.

I bit my lip. "I . . . I think so."

"Katara, you are going to have to be a little stronger than that," Zuko said softly. "This will be dangerous."

"It's the only plan we have," I murmured.

"I don't like it," Sokka offered.

"I don't either," I said honestly.

The room fell silent. I looked around, and suddenly realized how _young_ everyone was . . . King Bumi aside. We were the adults here, and that was frightening.

The meeting went on, discussing details, plans for other armies, for getting more weapons, for saving the world . . . I was still stuck on my part of the plan, still caught in the terror of it all.

I suddenly felt something nudge my toe. I looked up, startled, and found Toph's face turned towards me. She offered me a small smile. I tapped the table in response, thankful it was made out of stone.

* * *

After the meeting, I found myself hiding from the others, playing a weird game of keep-away, even though the thought of being alone was frightening.

"Katara."

I winced. "Hey, Aang."

"How do you feel about having fun?"

I hadn't expected him to say that, and looked up, startled, to see his grin. "Fun?" I echoed skeptically.

Aang shrugged his shoulders. "We're still kids. Kids need to have fun, otherwise we go crazy."

"Right," I drawled. "We're all still kids here."

Aang's eyes were sad, but he smiled. "Come on," he said, stretching out his hand. I took it, albeit reluctantly, and allowed him to drag me to Omashu's postal delivery system.

I gave him a look. He laughed, jumping into one of the stone death traps. I sighed deeply, but clambered in behind him. Aang winked, and we took off, sliding down the stone chutes.

I found myself crying and laughing at the same time, the wind dragging the tears from my eyes. Aang was whooping, but the rush of air drowned the sound out. I caught glimpses of startled citizens of Omashu as the track took us down through the city, but couldn't find it in myself to care.

Finally, the ride was over, and I stumbled out, the smile on my face painfully wide.

"Aang," I called, bringing him down from his over-graceful leap out of the cart. He regarded me curiously. "Thanks."

His smile deepened. "Glad I could help."

A lump in my throat kept me from saying anything else. Aang shot me a look of understanding, and flicked open his glider. "I'm going to go check on Appa."

I nodded, and watched as the Avatar flew off. As for myself, I had the long march back up to the top of Omashu.

By the time I reached the others, it was already dark.

Sokka didn't say much, just fell into step as we headed to our rooms. A nudge of his shoulder, and I was blinking back tears.

"We'll talk tomorrow."

I bit my lip, before whispering a slight, "yes."

Toph was a little more forward. She attacked me from the darkness of my room as soon I entered, throwing herself at me in a bear hug that had me gasping.

"Toph, Toph."

"Katara, are you an idiot?" Toph pulled back and punched me in the arm.

"Ow! And, yes!"

"Just so we're clear."

"Yeah. And I'm coming in with you."

I gaped. "What? No! Not happening!"

"No arguing. I can beat you up, Sugar Queen, even if you do have that fancy bloodbending. So I'm coming. Goodnight."

* * *

Zuko wasn't so accommodating. He argued. We fought. He was sure my idea would get me killed, and that I couldn't do it.

All I did was keep up my argument that it was the only way.

Eventually, Zuko stopped yelling.

"You're sure, then."

I threw him a look. He shrugged, unrepentant.

"We better train you to lie better."

"Okay."

"And Azula's got a weak spot. She was wounded in her left side once, when she was younger. It's sensitive."

"Got it."

"And Katara . . ." Zuko impulsively pulled me into a hug. "Try not to die."

"Yeah," I murmured into his armor. "Promise."

* * *

**A/N:** I doubt anyone out there is still reading this, but hey, I am still alive. It's slow, working up to a finale. So yes, the finale is close. I'll estimate at MOST 5 more chapters. I'll attempt to make them longer, too, but it's just rough going. And college is about to kick into high gear, so . . . yeah yeah, excuses excuses. i know you hate me. Anyway, hope everyone had a great holiday break.


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